Despite being successful at the box office, AVP: Alien Vs. Predator did not resonate with hardcore fans of the franchises. Directors Greg and Colin Strause, most widely known for their music video work (Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Californication”) and effects work (Titanic, 300), hope to bring wayward fans back to the franchises by getting back to basics.
In an interview with MTV, Colin said, “(Ridley Scott’s Alien) was dark. That movie used a lot of rain. And that movie was scary. We want it more like the classic early Alien and Predator movies we grew up on.”
In order to get back to the look of the original, Colin and Greg—commonly referred to as the Strause Brothers—actually cut back on CGI effects for Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem.
Ridley Scott (Alien) and James Cameron (Aliens) only used six Alien suits for their productions, but the Strause Brothers have twelve suits. Greg told MTV,
"You're not going to see 50 digital creatures running around. We want to bring the franchise back to basics. That's what made them so frightening in the first place."
But the Strause Brothers are not relying solely on tricks of the past.
AVP: Requiem features a truly terrifying creature: an alien/predator hybrid. The “Predalien” as it’s being called, basically takes the place of the Alien queen, which will
not appear in this film. Colin told MTV,
"The Predalien wants to hunt and reproduce."
To that, Greg added,
"The main concept is that a Predalien should still be primarily Alien (with) very strong Alien features but with Predator mandibles and Predator dreadlocks. It walks a little more upright than a normal Alien does, but it also has the tail. It uses that tail quite a bit, and it's got a much bigger tail than a normal Alien."
Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem opens December 25, 2007.