The Book of Alien
Written By: Paul Scanlon and Michael Gross
Published by: Titan Books
Release Date: May 29, 2012
Paperback

The Book of Alien by Paul Scanlon and Michael Gross was originally published by Heavy Metal Books in 1979. Ridley Scott’s return to science-fiction with Prometheus has sparked a renewed interest in the Alien mythos once again, so Titan Books has reprinted this 112-page art book, which features conceptual designs and illustrations that would come to define Ridley Scott‘s Alien as a science-fiction masterpiece.

The book features minimal information about the genesis of Dan O’Bannon’s script and the film’s production. Instead, The Book of Alien is an art book that focuses strictly on the visual aspects of Alien, filled with countless illustrations and photographs from the film’s production.

Artists Ron Cobb created hundreds of preliminary sketches of the interiors and exteriors of the Nostromo ship, which went through many design concepts, as well as the escape shuttle, Narcissus. Joining Cobb on the more human aspects of the film was artist Chris Foss, known for his covers of science-fiction novels and spaceship illustrations.

The first clip from the forthcoming documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune has been released. You can watch it here below.

The universe works in perplexing ways, especially when it comes to the cinema. There have been more than a few books written about the great films that went unmade for a variety of complex and infuriating reasons. I own three of the best books about the subject: David Hughes’ The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made, Tales from Development Hell, and Chris Gore’s The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made. And every time I read about how we could have had a Spider-Man movie written and directed by James Cameron or a Marx Brothers comedy that would have paired the esteemed comedy trio with legendary filmmaker Billy Wilder or Arnold Schwarzenegger and Paul Verheoven’s medieval war epic Crusade I feel saddened.