“Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem” is known for introducing new and interesting
elements to both franchises, such as the Predalien, a brief glimpse of the
Predators' home planet, the interior of their ship, and new weapons never before
seen for the Yautja hunter. Despite this, some innovative ideas were left out of
the final product. What was planned for the film during pre-production?
"AVPR" discarded ideas.
Original titles.
The film went by several titles throughout 2006 and 2007. It was originally
known as “AVP: Survival of the Fittest.” “AvP: Aliens vs. Predator” and
“Aliens vs. Predator: AvP” were also rumored. A movie news site reportedly
confirmed that the final title was simply “Aliens vs. Predator.” Finally, on
August 16, 2007, it was confirmed that the title would be “Aliens vs.
Predator: Requiem” (or AvPR for short), while internationally it would be
known as “Aliens vs. Predator 2.”
R.
Originally, the “R” in “AVPR” didn't mean anything. It was simply another way
for Fox to promote the R rating.
Cameos.
There were going to be a few cameos by various actors in the “Alien/Predator”
series. First, the filmmakers wanted Adam Baldwin (Garber from “Predator 2”)
to make a cameo, but the actor flatly refused. Next was Bill Paxton (Hudson
from “Aliens” & Lambert from “Predator 2”), but he wanted too much money.
Finally, the filmmakers wanted Michael Biehn (Hicks from “Aliens”) to play one
of the special forces members at the end of the film, but the studio turned
him down.
Battle in Afghanistan.
The film's screenwriter, Shane Salermo, wrote one of the first treatments for
the film's central story, in which the Predator spacecraft crashed in
Afghanistan, with the film revolving around a special forces team.
The death of the Predalien.
In the first draft of the script, the Predalien actually dies aboard the
Predator starship right at the beginning. The Predalien Chestburster emerges
from Scar and rapidly grows in size. The Predalien fights several Predators in
large-scale action sequences before a Predator accidentally fires a plasma
blast through the ship’s hull. The ship falls toward Earth as the wounded
Predators fire another plasma blast at the Predalien, killing it.
Predalien more Predator.
The studio wanted the Predalien to have more Predator-like traits throughout
the film, including the use of Predator weapons and a cape. Obviously, this
was a ridiculous idea, so it was scrapped. In the end, a scene was filmed in
which the Predalien had skinned the dead Predators on the crashed ship. This
was ultimately cut from the film because it didn’t look right. You can also
spot another nod to this idea when the Predalien rips out the chef’s spine.
More technology for humans.
The Strause brothers, the film's directors, wanted to shoot a scene in which
some soldiers find Wolf's ship in the lake after the nuclear bomb had
vaporized all the water, but they were unable to do so due to budget
constraints.
