What Next For The Predator Series?

Remember when it was announced that Shane Black was writing another Predator movie, and possibly directing?  Well, it’s damned near a year since that announcement and we haven’t heard anything since, apart from Black coming out and correcting rumours that it wasn’t a reboot, but a sequel.  So what the hell is happening with that movie?  Who knows, but we can be sure that it’s in good hands with Shane Black at the wheel.

You have to wonder though, how do you make another Predator movie and not be a re-hash?  The old story, the solitary badass overcoming the odds to defeat the alien in a final battle, might be too repetitive to return to.  Or, who knows, with the right man, maybe it won’t.  There’s also the problem of where to set it.  Can they really go back to the jungle again, would that be too repetitive too?  We should take a look at some possibilities here…

Where?

Where and when?  I’d say that a new Predator movie might want to try something different.  A good suggestion, if you think about it, can be found in the dialogue of Predator 2.  Gary Busey’s Agent Keyes pays reference to the Predator partying up on ol’ Iwo Jima, back in the day.  WW2 obviously.  It fits… savage fighting, savage climate, the Predator could not resist.  None of this fighting Xenomorphs in the Arctic shit.  This leads to another point, you can’t overdo it.

For years, a rumoured Predator sequel story sees an invasion of earth, with the whole planet being the battleground.  That doesn’t jive with me.  It misses the whole point of claustrophobia, of the alien taking its time and savouring the hunt.  I see that as being a loud, giant mess veering close to Michael Bay territory, or like the ending of the last Superman movie.  No-one wants that.

Who?

Chances are, it will come down to a man versus the Predator.  After all, that’s why the beast flies untold lightyears to earth, to pick out a classy trophy.  It won’t work though unless the correct actor is hired.  I see few men who can realistically pull off this role.  The options are, an unknown – risky.  There is the option of having Arnold Schwarzenegger return, for example, a subject of interest among the aliens, they could say that he was the first earthling to put a toe tag on one of their hunters.  Or they could go with a ‘current’ actor, but this again is a tough thing to call.  Could Gerard Butler convincingly take on a Predator?  What about Karl Urban?

It’s not enough to hire some metrosexual who has been hitting the gym.  For example, the last thing I want to hear is that Ryan Gosling has been working out real hard to prepare for his role in the new Predator movie.  Uh-uh!  Our man has to chew tobacco and shave without cream.

Director?

If this thing is still going ahead, it seems that the writing will be handled by Shane Black.  Good start, in fact, the best possible start.  But who could direct?  Perhaps Shane Black is the best answer again,  He’ll have a clear idea in his head of what the thing is actually going to be, so who better to execute it?

Other good names for the short list… John McTiernan, or possibly Gareth Evans.  Although both seem like long shots because there is (still!) a concerted effort to destroy McTiernan and Evans might not warm to such a ‘franchised’ movie.

Something that also can’t happen is a repeat of The Expendables 3, or Terminator: Salvation, where some yes-man is hired to simply oversee a committee meeting investment.  They need someone who is going to be difficult, creative and into the script.  Which to be honest, sounds like Shane Black.

Canon

Another thing we need and thankfully this has been, or was, confirmed, is something that is not a reboot.  A sequel (or prequel).  Expand on the original story, which doesn’t mean silly nods and regurgitated one liners.  Rather the Predator 2 approach, which in my opinion, was the perfect progression from the original movie.  I mean, the FBI trying to catch a Predator?  Seriously badass.

I’d like to see more of that to be honest.  But I get the feeling that Predator 2 is going to be shat on once again (does anyone know what Shane Black’s thoughts were on that movie by the way?).  It’s the perfect launch for another movie.