Shane Black's Predator reboot may have snagged its first star: Oscar-winner Benicio del Toro. Not a bad start!
According to multiple trusted outlets including Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, the actor is “in early talks” for a role in the franchise reboot, which Black has previously pegged as the first “event-sized” entry in the long-running series.
“I enjoy these movies, but we've been churning out these AVP whatever, they each cost a certain amount of money, they're okay, but there's no effort to elevate them or make them any kind of an event,'” said Black in an interview with Thrillist back in March, continuing later: “[The studio] said, 'What if we said to you we want to reinvent this, and really treat it with as much of an event status, or as much hoopla as we would the Alien prequel, which is coming out also? We really want to make this something. The kind of movie that people line up for.' I said, 'Really, you'll spend a bunch of money?' They go, 'Yep.' I go, 'Make it really scale, spectacle?' 'Yep.'”
There's no word yet on the nature of Del Toro's character, but if he indeed signs on it's a promising early attachment. The Predator will be the fourth installment in the main series, after 1987's Predator, 1990's Predator 2 and 2010's Predators. There were also two Alien vs. Predator spinoffs in the mid-2000s.