For the longest time, it seemed that Shane Black’s overhaul of the Predator franchise would remain as elusive as its alien antagonist. Persevering through a prolonged pre-production process, there is now finally light at the end of the tunnel for the filmmaker, with a release date pegged for early 2018.
Currently on the verge of releasing noir thriller The Nice Guys into theaters, Black spoke at length about his decision to pick up the reins of The Predator, and why he’s viewing the reboot as an event film in the style of Iron Man 3.
One thing that threatened to push Black out of the picture was Fox’s desire to craft new installments of Alien vs. Predator, shlock B movies that neither performed well at the box office nor added anything substantial to each franchise’s respective lore. But it looks as though The Predator is set to shake things up in more ways than one:
They called me and I was reluctant. I said, “Look. You guys at Fox, I mean, 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.” They’re just sort of another Predator. “Oh, there’s another one that came out.” They 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.” “Shit, that sounds interesting.”
For Black, that meant going all-in on his vision, with the sole intention of “really doing it right” this time around.
I think the first one was great, and it was contained, and it was a perfect little gem for what it was. I think there’s an expansion that needs to take place, and also just a love for that era, that movie, and the mythology of the Predator. I think that they came to me knowing pretty much that… they said, basically, if I wanted to make Predator but treat it like it was Iron Man III instead of just another little movie. I said, “Let’s really do it right this time.”
Look for Shane Black’s sequel/reboot/reimagining/revival/remix of the Predator universe to prowl into cinemas on March 2, 2018. But can we expect to see Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cigar-chomping Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer make an appearance?
