You can’t keep any franchise down for too long if it still retains any sort of name value or fan loyalty, as we’ve discovered repeatedly over the last three decades with Predator. John McTiernan’s 1987 original is a classic of both the action and sci-fi genres, but none of the subsequent movies have managed to recapture those heights and still, there’s yet another reboot in the works.
Predator 2 has endured as a cult favorite, and Nimrod Antal’s Predators is a sorely underrated entry into the canon that performed well enough with critics and audiences to warrant a sequel that never happened, but the Alien vs. Predator duology and Shane Black’s The Predator weren’t great, to put it lightly.
10 Cloverfield Lane‘s Dan Trachtenberg, meanwhile, is currently hard at work on a new feature-length tale, one that’s set to focus on a young Comanche warrior, which should at least deliver a fresh spin on the premise after close to 35 years of militarized running and gunning. Not only that, but a new rumor claims that Netflix is working on a new mature animated series as well, which fits the company’s M.O. for turning recognizable properties into anime shows.
While the live-action rights might remain in the hands of Disney, the streamer are clearly keen to acquire the animated options to a number of franchises that belong to other studios including Tomb Raider, Terminator, Pacific Rim and more. A highly stylized episodic Predator would certainly generate interest, and with Netflix eager to expand their anime lineup, it would make total sense from both a creative and commercial perspective as well. That said, the story remains firmly part of the rumor mill for now, but based on recent developments, it can’t entirely be ruled out.
