Right before director Shane Black offers his take on the feared space hunter, fans in the Czech Republic will be treated to upgraded re-releases of the first three films in the long-running Predator franchise.
4K Ultra HD releases have been announced for 1987’s Predator, 1990’s Predator 2 and 2010’s Predators, plus all three films will also be sold together in special Blu-ray Steelbook. On top of that, the original will be getting its own 3D Blu-ray and 4K Steelbooks. An August 29th release date has been set for all of the above, albeit only in the Czech Republic so far.
Though audiences elsewhere may be disappointed by the limited regional availability of these fancy new reissues, this news could also be regarded as a sign that similar announcements may follow for the rest of the world. As such, fans in North America shouldn’t be surprised if they’re given the opportunity to see their favorite technologically advanced, extra-terrestrial killer face off against Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny Glover, and Adrien Brody in 4K by the end of the year.
In the meantime, details continue to emerge about the new film from Shane Black, who incidentally played the creature’s first onscreen victim, Hawkins, in the original. Earlier this month, the Iron Man 3 director explained his intentions to reinvent the film series while honoring the previous installments, saying that the plot will inevitably “represent a hunt” but also delve into what happens “when the Predators get a little more ambitious.” Meanwhile, Black Panther stuntman Brian A. Prince claimed last week that he took inspiration from God of War protagonist Kratos in his portrayal of a more mobile Predator than past editions.
We’ll be able to see how well Shane Black’s The Predator compares to previous entries in the franchise when it’s released on September 14th, though it’s already honoring the series tradition of confusingly similar titles.
