7. The Cast & Crew Had To Pay To See It
In todays world of glitzy premieres, the stars come out and attend the first screening of their film in full public view. Often they will be shown the films in private in advance a move which led Sharon Stone to publicly slap Paul Verhoeven after he kept the infamous shot of her thigh in Basic Instinct. The cast of Alien had no such luxury: there was no official premiere and they had to queue up to see it at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. The irony of this is particularly sweet for Dan OBannon. The films screenwriter, who also wrote Dark Star, felt that he had been mistreated by the producers and refused to see the film. While driving around Hollywood in a fit of rage, he saw people lining up round three blocks to see his film. He wandered up to the front where his co-writer Ron Shusett shepherded him to the last vacant seat in the latest showing. The lights went down, the audience cheered as the film started and OBannon burst into floods of tears.