Some apologies may be in order, as10 Cloverfield Lanedirector Dan Trachtenberg has now revealed that his involvement inDisney’s Predator Rebootwas supposed to be a surprise. The news of Trachtenberg helming a fifth sequel in the action sci-fi franchise broke a few days ago, and the filmmaker has now responded with some disappointment, as he had planned for hisPredatormovie to be a secret.
“This wasmeant to be a surprise. Been working on this for almost 4 years now. I am very sad that what we had in store for how you could discover this movie will no longer happen. It’s a bummer. But also…YAY!”
So, once again the internet is the party pooper. WhileDan Trachtenbergdoes not reveal his plan, it’s likely that his take onPredatorwould have approached the marketing strategy in a similar way to that ofCloverfieldand keep things mysterious. Perhaps Trachtenberg had even planned to one day release a trailer for a movie that seemingly had no connection to the iconic space warrior before revealing somewhere in the footage that thePredatorhad returned, leading to elated cheers and joyful tears everywhere. Sadly, we will never know.
Thefuture of the Predator franchisehas been in flux since the rights to the popular sci-fi monster movies were recently gained by The Walt Disney Company as part of their acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Well,Predatoris now set to return under the House of Mouse banner with Dan Trachtenberg on board to helm the fifth installment.
The last we saw ofPredatorwas in Shane Black’sThe Predator, which debuted in 2018 to a critical mauling. Starring Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, and Sterling K. Brown, The Predator centers on Quinn McKenna, an army sniper, who, together with a group of fugitives and a scientist, sets out to kill the Predator and save Rory, his son, who was abducted as his autism reflects advancement in human evolution.
Trachtenberg’s currently untitled sequel will reportedly move away fromThe Predator, which ended with the U.S governmentdeveloping Predator killer technologyto fight back against the ugly invaders and will instead likely act as a reboot for the franchise now that it is in the hands of Disney.
The firstPredator, released back in 1987, stars Arnold Schwarzenegger during his action movie peak and remains one of the best movies to ever star the Hollywood legend, as well as one of the best sci-fi action movies ever made. Brimming with testosterone, the movie is endlessly quotable and birthed one of the most iconic sci-fi monsters of all time. The franchise has since spawned several sequels, includingPredator 2starring Danny Glover in 1990, which saw the alien hunter enter the concrete jungle of Los Angeles,Predatorsin 2010, which left Earth entirely to follow an ensemble cast of characters who have been placed on a planet which acts as a game reserve for two warring tribes of Predators, and two movies in the crossover spin-off seriesAlien vs. Predator.
While the surprise may have been ruined, Trachtenberg’s involvement withPredatorremains hugely exciting. This comes to us fromDan Trachtenberg’s official Twitter account.
