“If it bleeds, we can kill it” is as true of film franchises as it is vicious space aliens, but over the years, the Predator has proven surprisingly durable, even in the most absurd of crossovers. And he’s back to the screen soon to try and kill more soldiers. Here’s everything we know so far.
It’s Got Some Talent Behind It
The creative team behind The Predator has a heck of a pedigree, and straight from the ’80s no less. The big name is Shane Black; remember the guy in the first movie, who cracked all the dumb, raunchy jokes? That’s Shane Black. In addition to reciting the entirety of the Truly Tasteless Jokes series in a movie, Black has turned out a host of action classics as screenwriter and director. He wrote Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout, wrote and directed Iron Man 3, and is also responsible for the upcoming The Nice Guys.
His co-writer on Predator is Fred Dekker. Dekker is best known for co-writing The Monster Squad with Black and writing and directing the cult classic Night of the Creeps. In other words, these guys were responsible for a fair chunk of the movies that defined the ’80s for many people, and may or may not confirm whether the Predator has nards.
It’s Not A Reboot Or Remake
Somehow, the Predator movies have avoided being rebooted or remade, and that continues with this movie. Black has confirmed this is a sequel, which is welcome news if for no other reason than you won’t have people crying over remakes on your Facebook.
It’ll Build On Previous Predator Movies
Black notes that the Predator movies have a rather fascinating backstory that’s never really been explored, part of the reason it’s a sequel instead of a remake. We’ve seen Predators come to Earth to hunt humans in the original movie, and Nimrod Antal’s Predators took us to a “game preserve” as a collection of hitmen, soldiers, and hunters found themselves being tracked by both Predators and a new species of super-Predator. Expect the coming entry to be similarly creative.
It’ll Be Rated R
Don’t expect a PG-13 movie, either. Shane Black tends to make R-rated movies except where he has to get a PG-13; the franchise hasn’t had a PG-13 entry yet; and if that weren’t enough, Fox just made a boatload of money off an R-rated action movie. So, any Predator followup won’t have to worry about toning it down.
What We Don’t Know
We know the movie’s coming, as Fox posted this to the official Predator Facebook page:
What we don’t have is, well, anything else. Black is committed to direct, but there’s no cast, no budget, and no release date. So, while a new Predator movie is on the way, don’t expect it until at least 2017.
