My Stepmother Is an Alien

My Stepmother Is An Alien
Original movie poster
Directed by	Richard Benjamin
Produced by	Franklin R. Levy Ronald Parker Executive producers: Jerry Weintraub Art Levinson Laurence Mark
Written by	Jerico Stone Herschel Weingrod Timothy Harris Jonathan Reynolds Uncredited: Richard Benner Leslie Bricusse Debra Frank Susan Rice Paul Rudnick Carl Sautter
Starring	Kim Basinger Dan Aykroyd Jon Lovitz Alyson Hannigan
Music by	Alan Silvestri
Cinematography	Richard H. Kline
Editing by	Jacqueline Cambas
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	9 December 1988
Running time	105 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$16,000,000[citation needed]
Box office	$13,854,000 (US) [1]

My Stepmother Is An Alien is a 1988 comedy science fiction film produced by the Weintraub Entertainment Group for release through Columbia Pictures, directed by Richard Benjamin and starring Kim Basinger and Dan Aykroyd, with featured performances by Jon Lovitz and Alyson Hannigan.

Plot

Celeste (Kim Basinger) is an alien sent on a secret mission to Earth; Steven Mills (Dan Aykroyd) is a widowed scientist who is working on experimental ways to send radio waves into deep space. An accident causes a loss of gravity on Celeste's home world. She's sent to investigate who could affect gravity and how it was done under the belief it was an attack. She's aided by an alien device resembling a large phallus with an eye, which hides in a designer purse to aid Celeste with her encounters on Earth. The Bag is able to create diamonds and designer dresses almost instantaneously.

Celeste's inexperience leads to her almost exposing herself as alien, like trying to kiss for the first time or cooking. Jessie Mills (Alyson Hannigan), Steven's daughter, notices Celeste's strange habits, like eating cigarette butts and flashlight batteries or pulling hard boiled eggs out of boiling hot water with her bare hands. However, she can't convince her smitten father that there is something unusual about Celeste.

Celeste encounters a lot of new experiences such as sneezing, sexual intercourse and love. Eventually, Celeste falls in love with Steven and his daughter. She attempts to convince her home world that the attack was actually an accident and that Earth shouldn't be destroyed.

Cast

• Dan Aykroyd as Steven Mills
• Kim Basinger as Celeste Martin
• Jon Lovitz as Ron Mills
• Alyson Hannigan as Jessie Mills
• Joseph Maher as Lucas Budlong
• Seth Green as Fred Glass
• Ann Prentiss as Voice of The Bag
• Wesley Mann as Grady
• Tony Jay as Council Chief
• Peter Bromilow as Second in Command
• Nina Henderson as Cashier
• Harry Shearer as Voice of Carl Sagan
• Adrian Sparks as Dr. Morosini
• Juliette Lewis as Lexie, Jessie's Friend #1
• Tanya Fenmore as Ellen, Jessie's Friend #2
• Jonathan H. Rossi as Penis Alien #1

Cast notes

• Child co-stars Alyson Hannigan and Seth Green would later reunite on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Production

• The original writer of My Stepmother Is an Alien, Jerico Stone, saw the story as a dark allegory about child abuse, which is how he pitched the film to Paramount Pictures in 1981.^[2] Although Paramount ended up not producing the film, they own TV/digital rights (the former licensed to Trifecta Entertainment & Media) at present along with the rest of the Weintraub Entertainment Group library.

• Shelley Long was originally cast as Celeste, but dropped out due to unknown circumstances.^[3]

• The film went into principal photography on 29 February 1988, and wrapped in May of that year.^[2][4] Some location shooting took place in Thousand Oaks, California.^[5] The film was released in the United States on 9 December 1988,^[6] and was marketed with the tagline: "A million lightyears from home, she's found a husband, a stepdaughter and a dog."

Reception

The film was released on December 9, 1988 and opened at #7, grossing $2,066,980 in the opening weekend. It went on to gross $13,854,000 in the USA.^[1]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album was released by Polydor Records.

1. Room to Move - Animotion (4:12)
2. Not Just Another Girl - Ivan Neville (4:05)
3. Be the One - Jackie Jackson (4:15)
4. I Like the World - Cameo (6:11)
5. One Good Lover - Siren (3:51)
6. Hot Wives - Dan Aykroyd (2:53)
7. Pump Up the Volume - M.A.R.R.S. (4:06)
8. Enjoy - Alan Silvestri (2:54)
9. The Klystron - Alan Silvestri (5:33)
10. The Celeste - Alan Silvestri (4:56)
11. Kiss - Art of Noise feat. Tom Jones (3:30)

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mystepmotherisanalien.htm
2. ^ ^{a b} TCM Misc. notes
3. ^ My Stepmother Is an Alien at the Internet Movie Database
4. ^ IMDB Box office/Business Data
5. ^ IMDB Filming locations
6. ^ IMDB Release dates

External links

• My Stepmother Is an Alien at the Internet Movie Database
• My Stepmother Is an Alien at the TCM Movie Database
• My Stepmother Is an Alien at AllRovi