Movies
Shane Black’s ‘The Predator’ Will Be An Expensive “Spectacle”!
After the awesome and criminally underrated Predator 2, Twentieth Century Fox lost focus on both their Predator and Alien franchises, releasing the underwhelming Alien vs. Predator, it’s even cheaper R-rated sequel, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, and then the Robert Rodriguez-produced reboot/sequel Predators.
Thanks to Marvel and their cinematic universe, every studio executive is shifting focus. There’s all sorts of eventized franchises afoot, whether it’s X-Men, Planet of the Apes or Ridley Scott’s new Alien trilogy.
Fox was quick to adapt, being one of the first studios to start spending money on respectable reboots. And while some failed (Fantastic Four), others have flourished. Prometheus, for example, has opened up the door for a mega-sized Predator follow-up, which is being directed by Shane Black.
Black spoke with Thrillist about how he was approached and why he decided to get behind the now titled The Predator.
“They called me and I was reluctant. I said, ‘Look. You guys at Fox, I mean, I enjoy these movies, but we’ve been churning out these AVP whatever, they each cost a certain amount of money, they’re okay, but there’s no effort to elevate them or make them any kind of an event.’ They’re just sort of another PREDATOR. ‘Oh, there’s another one that came out.’ They said, ‘What if we said to you we want to reinvent this, and really treat it with as much of an event status, or as much hoopla as we would the Alien prequel, which is coming out also? We really want to make this something. The kind of movie that people line up for.’ I said, ‘Really, you’ll spend a bunch of money?’ They go, ‘Yep.’ I go, ‘Make it really scale, spectacle?’ ‘Yep.’ ‘Sh*t, that sounds interesting.'”
Black also talked about the focus to “do it right this time” and using Iron Man III as a springboard.
“I think the first one was great, and it was contained, and it was a perfect little gem for what it was. I think there’s an expansion that needs to take place, and also just a love for that era, that movie, and the mythology of the PREDATOR. I think that they came to me knowing pretty much that… they said, basically, if I wanted to make PREDATOR but treat it like it was IRON MAN III instead of just another little movie. I said, ‘Let’s really do it right this time.'”
Black is a tremendous writer (Lethal Weapon, The Monster Squad) and director, having punched up the original Predator from set and also helming the fantastic Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. It’s also exciting to hear that Arnold Schwarzenegger plans on meeting with Black about returning to his original role. Fred Dekker (The Monster Squad) penned the screenplay.
Producer John Davis recently exclaimed that the next Predator would reinvent the franchise, while we’ve been told by insiders that it’s a direct sequel to John McTiernan’s 1987 Predator.
Twentieth Century Fox will hunt down The Predator on March 2, 2018.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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