After the success of "Alien" (1979), Brandywine Productions was eager to make a sequel. Even so, it took seven years for the sequel to be completed. 20th Century Fox president Alan Ladd Jr. was supportive of the proposed "AlienII", but left before the project to found The Ladd Company production studio and was replaced by Norman Levy. According to Brandywine co-founder David Giler, Levy thought the sequel would be a "disaster". Levy disputed this account, saying he wanted to make "AlienII" but was concerned about production costs. The studio thought "Alien"s success was a fluke, it was not profitable enough to warrant a follow-up, and audiences would not return for a sequel. Box-office returns for horror films were also declining.