The Making of Men in Black: Alien Attack at Universal Studios Florida

Orlando, We Have a Deadline

An early ride concept was an indoor roller coaster based on the 1995 Ron Howard film, Apollo 13. Guests would have entered a recreation of the Vehicle Assembly Building from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. It was an indoor thrill coaster, sending riders on an interstellar journey to the moon and back.

The Apollo 13 roller coaster was an innovative design that would have taken a long time to produce. Universal’s decision makers became worried the revolutionary roller coaster could possibly miss its projected opening on the heels of Islands of Adventure. For that reason, the Apollo 13 roller coaster was scratched in favor of an attraction with a quicker turnaround.

An outdoor attraction was briefly considered for the expansion site, but Universal didn’t want to upset nearby residents with added noise—the neighboring Islands of Adventure already had an extensive roster of outdoor thrill rides.

Family-Friendly Concepts

Universal went in a more balanced direction by exploring ideas for an indoor family attraction. Some possibilities included a Nickelodeon dark ride and another themed to The Simpsons parodying Orlando tourism.

These cartoony concepts had potential, but Universal’s executives had second thoughts about building a ride for kids. Therefore, Universal changed the direction of the ride, requesting an attraction for older guests instead. The Nickelodeon and Simpsons ride concepts were called off.

Despite indecisiveness about the ride, its deadline never changed. By 1997, higher-ups still expected a ground-up attraction within a few years to complement Universal Orlando’s second gate. The clock was ticking, and Universal had to commit.

Universal’s Creatives drafted two dark ride options—only one would be chosen, eventually becoming the park’s next ride.

Stephen King’s Nightmare

Universal’s Creatives, including John Murdy, fully embraced the thrilling assignment with its first option: a dark ride inspired by the horrifying work of novelist Stephen King. The only known scene in the ride was its false ending. Allegedly, the ride would have pulled into a fake unload station with an exit door and control booth. To the riders’ surprise, the exit gushed blood in the vein of The Shining, and Pennywise the Dancing Clown from It took over the ride controls, plunging riders deeper into the nightmare.

Here Come the Men in Black

The other dark ride concept was based on a movie that hadn’t even hit theaters yet: Men in Black, coming from Lowell Cunningham’s comic book series of the same name. The upcoming action-comedy film, starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, was a theme park ride waiting to happen. The movie’s trailer was all the inspiration Universal’s Creatives, including Craig Hanna, needed to come up with a ride concept. The idea was an interactive attraction that put riders in the alien-zapping action of an MIB agent.

The Final Decision

The two options were presented to Universal’s upper management for their approval. Both the Stephen King and Men in Black concepts were brilliant. The storyboards were so good, management couldn’t decide between the two options.

So, Universal let the people decide by surveying the public about the two concepts. Oddly enough, the test-market results were split down the middle; it was a tie with no clear winner.

The concepts went back to senior management one final time to make a decision. The higher-ups wanted the most popular attraction possible for attendance reasons. In the meeting, the point was made that the Stephen King attraction would have been too scary for most guests—despite how popular it may have been with horror fans. Men in Black, which was the highest-grossing film of the year, appealed to a broader demographic.

Thus, Universal greenlit the Men in Black attraction and axed the Stephen King concept.