James Cameron confirms urban myth about unique Aliens pitch

James Cameron has confirmed a long standing urban myth about his 'Aliens' pitch.

The 68-year-old filmmaker - who wrote and directed the 1986 sequel to Ridley Scott's legendary sci-fi horror - has long been rumoured to have suggested the movie to 20th Century Fox executives by showing them the word "alien" and simply adding an S made into a dollar sign.

Now, he has confirmed the story to Empire after a question asked by Edgar Wright.

He said: "I had lunch with a bigshot producer when I was about to start Aliens who said, 'This is a no-win for you. If your movie’s good, Ridley will get the credit. If it’s bad, it’s all you. It’s a career ender.'

"I said, 'Yeah, buuuuuut... I like it.' I was maybe a dumbass fanboy, but I could see it so clearly in my head that I just had to go make it. And yes, it’s true."

The 'Avatar: The Way of Water' director admitted the actual events match up to the rumour.

He explained: "I was in a meeting with the studio head and the executive producers, and I turned my script over and on the blank side of the last page I wrote ALIEN.

"Then I drew an S on the end. Then I drew two vertical lines through the S and held it up to show them."

As for why the bold idea paid off, Cameron suggested it could be down to his display of "confidence", or even something as simple as the symbolism in the pitch.

He added: "Maybe it was just Pavlovian conditioning when they saw the $ sign connected closely to the word ‘Alien’.

"Or maybe it was the confidence I projected. But they said yes."

Thankfully for Cameron, it paid off with the movie being a huge critical success, while it made $180 million at the worldwide box office from an $18.5 million budget.