Dan Trachtenberg To Helm The Next ‘Predator’
by Erik Amaya
It seems you can’t keep a potentially good Predator down.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Cloverfield Lane filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg is in talks to direct the next film in 20th Century Studios’ Predator franchise. The series, which began with 1987’s Predator, tells the story of an extraterrestrial race of hunters who come to Earth for games of sport. While 2010’s Predators saw humans moved to an off-world nature preserver, the Predators generally like to hunt mankind in their own native habitat.
The results of Predator’s simple premise tend to be mixed both commercially and creatively. The original film, staring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by John McTiernan, is a classic. Its box office success quickly led to Predator 2. But with both Schwarzenegger and McTiernan gone, the film veers closer to camp with its jokes about Los Angeles culture. It also fans thanks to Danny Glover‘s strong lead performance. Despite co-headlining two Alien vs. Predator films, the creatures would take a nearly twenty-year break from carrying their own franchise. Their most recent outing, Shane Black‘s The Predator, did okay in theaters, but has yet to find any sort of following, cult or otherwise.
Nonetheless, reviving the Predator series is the first sign of life from 20th Century Studios since it became part of the Disney family and lost “Fox” from its name. Clearly, leveraging the properties it owns will be key to staying viable, so expect a new Alien project any moment now.
Details of the film’s plot are, of course, unknown … but it is safe to assume it will once again use that dependable premise to pit some exemplar of masculinity against the apex hunters. Then again, now that we’ve said that, maybe it’s time for someone a different kind of prey to match wits with the Predator.
