Update: I made some major changes below as Black’s quote was originally reported out of context as if his time travel concept was part of his ‘The Predator’ screenplay. He was in fact talking about another screenplay that he’s been working on, which is a horror film with time travel elements.
Shane Black, who is directing The Predator for FOX, recently told the Empire Podcast the lead character’s name in the sequel set for release on February 9, 2018.
While he also talked a bit about event-izing the franchise, and shooting for the stars (he wants to create the same sense of wonderment and newness that Close Encounters had when it came out), there was a pretty huge piece of news that most outlets overlooked.
Black, who cleaned up the original Predator screenplay and co-starred, revealed that he’s been tinkering with a horror film with time travel elements, but ultimately kept tripping into plot holes.
“It’s still in the hopper, I never finished it,” Black explained of the film’s specific genre. “It was supposed to be time travel done as horror, and I couldn’t figure out the time travel of it, it got too confusing for me. But I’ll still go back to it. I love the idea of time travel as horror, but I can’t keep my head straight when I’m trying to write it. I keep violating my own rules.”
Can you imagine a Shane Black time travel movie? Honestly, though, I’d see anything he writes and directs…
In regards to The Predator, back in April we reported that Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is telling people that he’s probably going to star in the Predator followup, being penned by Fred Dekker.
“I’ll be doing some new feature films and stuff like that too. I’ll do Predator,” Jackson told Sirius XM’s Shade 45. He confirmed this in a second interview, this time with 99 Jamz UnCensored: “I’m working on some new projects. You heard of the movie Predator? I might be a part of that project this summer.”
Jackson already has a relationship with Arnold Schwarzenegger (rumored to appear) as he co-starred in Escape Plan with Sylvester Stallone.
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. Most recently, Black stated that The Predator will be an expensive “spectacle”!