Movies
[Vintage Video] Watch Sigourney Weaver’s 1978 ‘Alien’ Screen Test
One month before filming began on Alien, Ripley still hadn’t been cast.
When Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett wrote Alien, they didn’t specify which members of the ill-fated Nostromo crew were male and which were female; all of the parts were written unisex, allowing Ridley Scott and his team the unique freedom of deciding the sex of each character during the casting process. Even Ripley, the Nostromo’s sole survivor, was not a female character until Scott came aboard the project. Of course, he cast 29-year-old Sigourney Weaver as the film’s heroine, and it’s impossible to imagine any other actor (male or female) doing the part more justice.
Weaver IS the Alien franchise… but she wasn’t the first choice to helm the series.
Other actresses considered for the role included Helen Mirren (who auditioned) and even Meryl Streep (who was never actually approached), but it was Weaver who won over Ridley Scott during a New York audition that took place just about one month before filming was to begin. Scott was set on casting Weaver as Ripley based on her audition alone, but the producers insisted on her first completing a screen test.
And so, in May on ’78, the young Weaver flew to London to read through her lines on actual pieces of the Nostromo set that had already been constructed. That screen test, which was thankfully filmed and preserved, brought the iconic character of Ellen Ripley to life for the very first time.
Enjoy this delightful piece of Alien history below!
Six months after taking the world by storm on the big screen, Toho’s epic masterpiece Godzilla Minus One has finally been unleashed AT HOME here in the United States today.
The official Godzilla website announces, “Fans of the King of the Monsters can now stream Godzilla Minus One on Netflix, with Godzilla Minus One and Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color digital purchase ($14.99) and digital rental ($5.99) available across popular platforms.
“Godzilla Minus One is available to stream on Netflix starting June 1, subtitled and dubbed in Japanese, English, and more languages in North America. Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color will be available to stream on Netflix later this summer.
“The subtitled versions of Godzilla Minus One and Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color can also be purchased or rented digitally in subtitled versions starting June 1 on Amazon, Apple iTunes, Google Play, Microsoft, and FandangoNOW/VUDU, inDemand, XBOX, and Vubiquity. The films will also be offered through Dish and DirecTV for digital purchase and rental.
“From Director, Screenwriter, and Visual Effects Supervisor Takashi Yamazaki, Godzilla Minus One and Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki, with music by Naoki Sato.
“Godzilla Minus One opened in North American theaters on December 1, 2023 nationwide after being shown in participating premium large format theaters for Early Access Fan Event Screenings on November 29. Its black and white version, Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color, released in North America on January 26, 2024, running for one week only through February 1, 2024.
“Before arriving on digital platforms, Godzilla Minus One helped celebrate the 70th anniversary of Godzilla by becoming a global critical success with a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, and commercial success as it became the highest grossing Japanese live-action film in US Box Office History as well as the #3 top grossing Foreign Film in US Box Office History.”
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