Alien: Terry Gilliam inquires about the funding

leading from
Alien: Afterthoughts
  and
Terry Gilliam

a) Popping the question about Alien's budget
Terry Gilliam found out about the Alien production and so asked Sandy Lieberson what was going on and why they were throwing money at Ridley Scott when the film was way over budget, which was something that Fox wouldn't do for Gilliam. Sandy replied that the difference was that Gilliam was a finite object, adding "They know what you are, you're worth that much, that's the kind of audience you get, and that's the end of it."

b) What this meant
So Ridley was still an unknown quantity and so was the Alien production. And so they threw money  at it because it could become anything. This meant that in some ways, it was probably better to not be successful at first in Hollywood, because if you're out on a limb you can still be anything. The worst thing to be is in the film's budgetary middle class, but not trapped in the reasonably middle class.

1. Terry Gilliam : When Ridley Scott was doing Alien, I remember asking Sandy Lieberson what was going on; why were they throwing all this money at him when the film was way over budget - something they wouldn't do for me. He said the difference was that I was a finite object: " They know what you are, you're worth that much, that's the kind of audience you get, and that's the end of it." Ridley however was still an unknown quantity and so was Alien. So they threw money at it because it could become anything. In some ways, it's probably better not to be successful at first in Hollywood, because if you're out on a limb you can still be anything. The worst thing to be is in film's budgetary middle class, but not trapped in the reasonably middle class. (Gilliam On Gilliam)