Check out the original Alien Xenomorph in Dark Horse’s comic book adaption of the first draft screenplay

You think you saw the original Alien film with Sigourney Weaver? Well, we've got news for you - you've only seen part of it.

Dark Horse Comics has adapted the original, un-edited screenplay for the iconic cosmic horror film into a comic book limited series scheduled to debut August 5. And now just days ahead of that launch, they've rolled out a limited edition "exclusive variant bundle" with a rare print and variant cover limited to 250 people.

"En route to back to Earth, the crew of the starship Snark intercepts an alien transmission," reads Dark Horse's description of the series, which debuts August 5. "Their investigation leads them to a desolate planetoid, a crashed alien spacecraft, and a pyramidic structure of unknown origin. Then the terror begins . . ."

While that sounds like the familiar movie starring Sigourney Weaver, this story is much different. The project is based on the first draft of the screenplay by Dan O'Bannon - the one he used to pitch it as a film project to 20th Century Fox.

While Fox did indeed pick it up, the script went through at least eight additional drafts by David Giler and Walter Hill to make the film you know and remember. Dark Horse's Alien: The Original Screenplay is based on the original unvarnished original, adapted by writer Cristiano Seixas and artist Guilherme Balbi.

The limited series is scheduled to go on sale on August 5, but this new "exclusive variant bundle" will be limited to 250 and sold only through Dark Horse's website.

Carlos D'Anda has drawn this new variant, featuring the original design for the alien Xenomorph before H.R. Giger finalized it for the film.

The bundle will also include D'ANda's illustration as an 11x17 fine art lithograph print (hand-numbered).

A collected edition of the limited series is slated to go on sale on December 15.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)