New ‘Predator’ Movie to ‘Recreate Franchise’

News of the latest Predator movie have been scarce, but this week, producer John Davis confirmed that the project is very much alive. In news that may please many Predator fans, Davis believes that Shane Black’s latest installment has the potential to “recreate the franchise.”

In 2014, as reported by the Inquisitr, it was revealed that Shane Black would direct the forthcoming instalment in the Predator franchise. Details have been minimal since, but the silence was broken this week when John Davis spoke to the Collider, citing Black’s continuation of the franchise as “fresh and entertaining.”

“Shane shot a movie and he’s doing a pilot now, but I’ve read a lot of his script and I think it’s genius. I think it’s genius and I think it’s entertaining, and what it did is recreate a famous franchise in a different, interesting way; looking at it from a different light. He’s just an amazing writer-director. He’s got a way of looking at this that makes you excited again.

Shane’s got a writing partner, Fred Dekker. They’ve been doing it together and Fred’s great. The two of them together, they’ve been in the business for a long time, but the writing is so fresh, the perspective is so fresh. I’m telling you you’re going to get something you don’t expect and you’re going to say, ‘This is the most entertaining way to reinvent a franchise.’ I mean he’s the guy who wrote Iron Man 3.”

Specific details of plot, characters, and locations are unknown at present, but the next installment will be a sequel to the existing films rather than a total reboot. This isn’t Black’s first experience with the extraterrestrial hunter — he was the Predator’s first on-screen casualty, Hawkins, in the original film. He also helped polish the script, gaining himself a writing credit in the process.

Predator was released in 1987, and was one of the films that launched Arnold Schwarzenegger as a global superstar. Followed by urban sequel Predator 2 in 1990, and attempted reboot Predators in 2010, the franchise has struggled to find the form that made the original such a success. When Fox combined its Predator and Alien franchises to create AVP: Alien vs. Predator and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, in 2004 and 2007 respectively, the reaction was mixed.

Predator fans have even been divided, some wanting a sequel and some content with never seeing another Predator movie. As with all franchises, rumors have been plentiful over the years, including Schwarzenegger’s tentative return to the franchise — as reported by AVP Galaxy in 2011 — and a film featuring more than one aggressive Predator, a wish that eventually came to fruition in Predators.

No release date has been confirmed for Shane Black’s untitled film. However, with an impressive directorial résumé that includes Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3, the future looks bright for the Predator franchise. The hunt, it seems, is truly back on.

[Images – ign.com and avpgalaxy.net]