The Egg Silo concept art.
The Egg Silo, also known as the Pyramid, was a location cut from Alien during it's production. It was to be the original location where the Xenomorph Eggs were discovered on LV-426.
Overview[]
Originally, the Eggs discovered on LV-426 by Dallas, Kane and Lambert were not going to be on board the derelict ship, but rather were going to be found inside a separate, pyramid-like structure located nearby, the idea being the derelict and its crew had stumbled upon the structure before succumbing to the creatures it contained. Initially, the structure was going to be made of stone and filled with elaborate hieroglyphics, similar to the pyramids found on Earth. When Walter Hill and David Giler performed rewrites on the film's script, the structure's design and background was altered, becoming a cylindrical silo of human origin with an industrial, utilitarian interior; the Eggs within were intended to be a human bioweapon created by scientists, with the Nostromo crew unwittingly lured there so they could be tested. before the structure was later redesigned by H. R. Giger to match the bio-mechanical aesthetic he had applied to much of the rest of the film.
Behind the Scenes[]
When the Nostromo crew found nothing of interest inside the derelict, they would elect to explore the planet further. Subsequently, they were to discover another pyramid-shaped structure nearby, and after climbing to its summit they discover a small room. Inside is a hole sealed by some form of membrane, which Kane has to cut through in order to be lowered inside. Inside the cavernous chamber, he would find the Eggs, from which point the film would have proceeded as it does in the filmed version.
The entire scene was cut before filming due to budget constraints. According to director Ridley Scott:
- "The pyramid and the derelict — two different elements — were still the subject of a seesaw debate when I came on the project. I would love to have shot it, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it would have been wonderful in a three-hour version. What finally cracked it was the budget. We just had to get rid of it. And you know, sometimes financial practicalities force you to do a certain amounnt of editorial work, and I'm glad we simplified it."
- —Ridley Scott, regarding the removal of the Egg Silo