The long anticipated gigantic box set commemorating the four films of the Alien film franchise has finally been announced. The Alien Quadrilogy is coming from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. All four films will be presented in both their original theatrical cuts and longer director’s cuts.

First is Alien, the 1979 theatrical version and the new longer cut in theaters as you read this will be included as will an introduction by Director Ridley Scott, Dan O’Bannon, Sigourney Weaver,
Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt and more, a new audio commentary with Scott and the technical crew, a total of nine new documentaries, “Star Beast” ­ On developing the Alien
story; “The Visualists” ­ the direction and design of the film; “Truckers In
Space” ­ Casting the movie; “Fear Of The Unknown” ­ Behind the scenes at
Shepperton Studios in 1978; “The Darkest Reaches” ­ Developing the Nostromo
and Alien planet; “The Eighth Passenger ­ Creating the Alien; ”Future Tense“ ­ Focusing on the music and editing of Alien; ”Outward Bound“ ­ Peering into the film¹s visual effects and ”A Nightmare Fulfilled“ ­ Reaction to the film’s opening, a multi-angle scene study on the Chestburster sequence with optional commentary by Ridley Scott and the production team, Sigourney Weaver’s original screen test with optional commentary by Ridley Scott, seven deleted scenes, the first draft of the screenplay by Dan O’Bannon, original thumbnails and sketches by Ridley Scott, storyboards, photo and production galleries and theatrical posters.

James Cameron’s more action intensive Aliens also contains the previously released director’s cut and – for the first time – the original theatrical version. Also included are an introduction by Director James Cameron, a new commentary by James Cameron, Michael Biehn, Jenette Goldstein,
Carrie Henn, Terry Henn, Lance Henriksen, Gale Anne Hurd, Pat McClung, Bill Paxton, Dennis Skotak, Robert Skotak and Stan Winston, the film’s original treatment, nine new featurettes, ”57 Years Later“ – Continuing the saga;
”Building Better Worlds“ – From concept to construction; ”Preparing For
Battle“ – Casting and characterization; ”This Time It¹s War“ ­ A look back
at Pinewood Studios, 1985; ”The Risk Always Lives“ – Weapons and action;
”Bug Hunt“ ­ Creature design; ”Beauty And The Bitch“ ­ Power Loader vs.Queen Alien; ”Two Orphans“ ­ Revisiting Sigourney Weaver And Carrie Henn; and ”Aliens Unleashed“ ­ Reaction to the film, art galleries, photo galleries, deleted footage marker, multi-angle videomatics with optional commentary and an easter egg.

The much maligned David Fincher production of Alien³ will finally get its due process as the rarely seen director’s cut finally arrives alongside the original cut. Also included is a new commentary by cinematographer Alex Thompson, editor Terry Rawlings, VFX designers ,b>Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr., visual effects producer Richard Edlund, and actors Paul McGann and Lance Henriksen, 11 new featurettes ”
Development“ ­ Concluding the story; ”Tales Of The
Wooden Planet“ ­ Vincent Ward¹s vision; ”Pre-Production III“ ­ The making of
Alien³; ”Xeno-Erotic“ ­ H.R. Giger¹s redesign of the Alien creature; ”Production: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three“ ­ Behind-the-scenes on the production of the movie; ”Adaptive Organism“ ­ Creature design; ”Optical Fury“ ­ Visual effects; ”Music, Editing And Sound“; and ”Post-Mortem“ ­ A reaction to the film a multi-angle feature with optional commentary, art and photo galleries, the furnace construction time lapse and storyboard archives.

Finally comes Alien Resurrection, a departure both for the franchise and for director Jean Pierre Jeunet. Both the original cut and an extended cut with alternate opening and closing sequences will be included as will an introduction by Jean Pierre Jeunet, a new commentary Jeunet, Herve Schneid, Alec
Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Pitof, Sylvain Despretz, Ron Perlman, Dominique Pinon and Leland Orser, a first draft of the screenplay by Buffy creator Joss Whedon , 11 new featurettes: ”From The Ashes“ ­ Reviving the story; ”French Twist“, ­ Direction and design; ”Under The Skin“ ­ Casting and characters; ”Death From Below“ ­ Underwater photography; ”In The Zone“ ­ Basketball scene; ”Unnatural Mutation“ ­ Creature design, ”Genetic Mutation“ ­ Creature
design; ”Genetic Composition“ ­ A listen to the music; ”Virtual Alien“ ­
Computer generated imagery; ”A Matter Of Scale“ ­ Miniature photography; and
”Critical Junction“ ­ A reaction to the film, multi-angle rehearsal footage, galleries, storyboards and an easter egg.

But eight discs just isn’t enough for Fox, a ninth disc will contain a new interview with Ridley Scott, ”Experience in Terror“ ­ A promotional featurette from 1979, ”Alien Evolution”, a Channel 4 U.K. exclusive documentary on Alien, the complete laserdisc archive of the first two films, original theatrical trailers and TV spots for all four films, the Aliens In The Basement featurette. a Dark Horse cover gallery ­ Anthology of 11 issues of the Alien comics and DVD-ROM content.

All of that sums up to just about the most comprehensive DVD set ever released. The set will arrive on December 2nd of this year with a suggested retail price of $99.98.