Those of you hoping that we’d get a Predator film with the alien as the main character will be very happy to hear that Badlands is doing just that.
Predator is having a bit of a renaissance right now, with Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey being very well received when it came out in 2022. Shooting for the next Predator film kicked off back in August (actually, the next two films, in a neat surprise from Trachtenberg), and in a new interview with Empire, the director shared that the upcoming Badlands will do things a little differently by making the hunting expert alien the protagonist for a change. “The creature is front and centre, leading the charge,” Trachtenberg said in the interview.
“He’s still badass, but there’s something there that touches you emotionally, too. Creating a character you connect with, but are also super-intimidated by, has been challenging. But exciting.” Trachtenberg went on to explain that this idea came from wanting to “find another essential piece of cinema that does what Prey did spiritually – pushing the franchise’s boundaries, letting us root for a hero we rarely get to root for – but in a different way. And that transformed into this big idea of rooting for the Predator.”
It won’t be all aliens, all the time though in the sequel – Elle Fanning, who you can also expect to see in Death Stranding 2 next year, is set to star in it, and apparently as more than one character too. “She faced intense challenges on this movie – dramatically, physically, logistically,” Trachtenberg said of Fanning, which sounds like lots of fun.
That secret Predators movie still has a lot of secrecy surrounding it, though Trachtenberg did previously share that it’s due out before Badlands. With Badlands currently set to be released November 7 next year, that means you can expect the secret one by November 6 at the latest, but I’m sure they’ll give it a bit more headroom than that.