25 Things You Didn't Know About Alien
18. 20th Century Fox Almost Didn't Allow The "Space Jockey" Scene To Be Made
Among Alien's many striking visual moments, one which especially stands out is the early "Space Jockey" scene, in which three Nostromo crew members come across the gigantic remains of an alien pilot in a grand, funereal chamber. It's one of the most impressive an effective shots in the entire film, but 20th Century Fox almost stopped it from happening.
Their reasoning was simple. At the time, film props were never this large, and with the set only appearing briefly, this would drive the budget up unnecessarily. Ron Cobb managed to convince the studio that this would be the film's "Cecile B. DeMille" shot, and would set the film apart from low-budget fair.