Prop egg from Alien 3 trailer: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Prop egg used in the marketing of the 1992 film Alien 3, including use in the movie's promotional trailers. The egg is a version of the one depicted on the poster for the original 1979 Ridley Scott film Alien. That iconic poster, designed by Philip Gips, is remembered for its stark minimalist design and tagline "In space no one can hear you scream".

The egg is made from a blend of wax and latex attached to a plaster and wire mesh form. The coating is pitted and cratered, designed to look organic and otherworldly. The egg glows green from an uneven crack in the center, a glow effect achieved with a piece of green mylar covering the inside of the egg and a light shining through. The egg is attached to a tall, metal, "L-shaped" frame. The back half of the egg opens up to reveal a small fluorescent tube and the green mylar.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1985
• Object Name: egg prop
• Physical Description: wax/latex (overall material)
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Physical Description: plaster (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 153 cm x 65 cm x 65 cm; 60 1/4 in x 25 9/16 in x 25 9/16 in
• Measurements: overall: 60 1/2 in x 26 in x 26 3/4 in; 153.67 cm x 66.04 cm x 67.945 cm
• Subject: Movie
• ID Number: 2003.0347.01
• catalog number: 2003.0347.01
• accession number: 2003.0347
• Credit Line: Gift of Twentieth Century Fox Studio
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.