Shane Black has high expectations for ‘The Predator‘ and is sharing exactly how he will be trying to deliver on them. A huge fan of the original movie, he feels that much of what made it good hasn’t been translated into the sequels. He also shares for the first time when the film will take place on the timeline of the current ‘Predator’ films which have been released.
So when is Black working on this and where is he in pre-production? Well it sounds like the film will be happening sooner than later:
“The train is rolling I should say. I think it’s pretty clear now that this is the next thing I’m gonna do, is work on that. We’re having a lot of fun. The idea is to take what has been a series of kind of modest knock-off type movies which all made a guaranteed return. Not bad movies but certainly not on the level of what Ridley [Scott] was doing with Alien and then Prometheus and now this very much lauded prequel/sequel coming up. How can I follow in the footsteps of someone who re-invents and brings that much event-ised quality to a pulp franchise. How do you get people to know about the Predator and buy their tickets a month before it comes out as opposed to just ‘What are you seeing tonight? We can see a comedy or… oh, there’s a new Predator.’ No, no, this one we want to make people aware of – we’ve paid a lot of attention, there’s even some more money spent.”
You might be wondering after ‘Predator 2’, the ‘AVP’ flops, and the most recent attempt at a reboot how he plans on making everyone want to truly look forward to the return of the Predator:
“We’re going to get a great cast and we really just write it and write and and write it – just keep writing it to make it as interesting and stuffed with ideas as we can and hopefully to re-infuse it with a sense of mystery. The worst thing you could hope for in one of these is a shot in bright sunlight of a field and the Predator just kind of walks on and ‘hello’ – you want to do… I keep going back to Ridley Scott, the way he captured the alien in that first movie. The sense of mystery and portent. If we could just cut into a little piece of that – that sort of vibe – and then I think there’s humour to be had too. And tonal shifting.”
We know that he isn’t planning on writing off ‘Predator 2’ and when asked if ‘Predators’ will also be a part of the universe he states:
“Well it seems to me if we set ours in 2018 which is when the film is set, then we can only be a prequel to that one, so you could say yes it exists, but people won’t be discussing it really.”
So when will this one be taking place timewise?
“It’s in the midst of the mythology. It’s a movie that’s set in our present-day. Or maybe the day after tomorrow.”
It sounds like Black has a lot of solid ideas on how to bring ‘The Predator’ out as a win for the franchise fans as well as fresh faces in the audience. Now, how that will translate onto the big screen still waits to be seen but I’ve got hopes for this one.
Are you looking forward to Shane Black’s take on ‘The Predator’? Share your thoughts below!
‘The Predator’ will be sneaking into theaters on March 2nd, 2018.
Source: IGN
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
