Twenty years after the Predator last graced the big screen – without any other well-known Alien being – it is to make a comeback, and in numbers.
Reports regarding the development of Predators have been coming out of Hollywood thick and fast in the past couple of weeks.
It has been confirmed the film will in fact be produced by Robert Rodriguez and his Troublemaker Studios and has already been given a release date, July 7, 2010.
Obviously the proof will be in the Predators pudding, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction for the popular character/s, which has been steadily losing credibility thanks to the disastrous Alien v Predator (2004) and almost as bad follow-up AVP: Requiem (2007).
Of course it was also reported last week, veteran director Ridley Scott maybe (and I mean maybe) eyeing an Alien prequel – which would certainly be another welcome addition to the sci-fi movie universe.
The new Predator pic won’t be a prequel, but a sequel, so says Rodriguez himself, akin to James Cameron’s brilliant Aliens (1986)
Answering questions put forward by Ain’t It Cool’s literal heavyweight Harry Knowles, Rodriguez revealed some interesting background to the project – background that in fact goes back to the early ’90s …
“Way back before I did Desperado, I had taken a writing assignment for a sequel to Predator,” he told AICN.
“With a nod toward Cameron’s ALIENS I decided to call it PREDATORS. I set it on a jungle-like Predator planet. It was just a writing assignment, so I didn’t have to worry about budget constraints or how the movie would actually get made with the technology that existed back then, so I just wrote any cool thing I could come up with.
“Fast forward 15 years to when I got a call from Alex Young over at Fox, who had been digging around and found my original treatment. He was eager to get it made and re-invent the Predator franchise using the treatment as a guide. So he contacted me to see if I’d be interested in being involved, and it seemed like the perfect project for us over at Troublemaker Studios.”
Rodriguez, the man who gave us From Dusk ’til Dawn (1998) and brought Sin City (2005) to life, says he won’t direct the film, but will have a major role in how the whole thing plays out.
“What I’d like to do with it is expand on ideas I dreamt up back in the original treatment, that had really expanded on the universe both the Predators and other species live in.
“We’d create new otherworldly characters while not taking away from the draw our main Predator has.
“Alex (Young) is passionate about re-inventing the series to a new and exciting level, and as a fan myself I’m all for it.”
The original Predator is an absolute classic, released in 1987 and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the leader of a crack team of commandos hunted down in the jungles of South America.
The first sequel was a much under-rated effort from 1990 starring Danny Glover and Gary Busey and set in the jungles of Los Angeles.
While a lacklustre effort, AVP: Requiem had a couple of intriguing, albeit brief, moments, such as when we finally get a glimpse of the Predator homeworld. I’d personally like to see more.
What I don’t want to see is another cheap rip-off of Predator and Aliens. Pay homage to them, but don’t ‘remake’ them in another setting.
BloodyDisgusting reported recently Alex Litvak was penning a draft of Predators and stated that the film “will follow a team of commandos who face down a mysterious race of vicious monsters”.
Let’s hope there’s a bit more too it than that.
SOURCES:
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/40879
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/16093
