The great Benicio del Toro (The Wolfman) was originally in talks to star in Twentieth Century Fox’s The Predator, an alleged reboot of Predator that’s to be directed by Shane Black (co-star and co-writer of the original film). Unfortunately, due to scheduling issues, del Toro was forced to exit the project. Fox is seeking “Narcos” star Boyd Holbrook to replace him, according to Variety.
Black is directing from a script by Fred Dekker. John Davis, Joel Silver, and Lawrence Gordon — who produced the original — are producing with hopes to begin shooting next year.
Plot details are under wraps. The original was directed by John McTiernan and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, and Jesse Ventura as commandos attempting to rescue hostages while being stalked in a jungle in Central America by a fearsome extra-terrestrial, played by Kevin Peter Hall.
The last bits of news we heard was that James Franco might play the film’s lead, “Quinn McKenna”, as well as the securing of Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. as the special creature FX provider.
Fox has already set The Predator for release on February 9, 2018.
Holbrook is starring as the villain in Logan, the sequel to 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine and 2013’s The Wolverine, along with Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Stephen Merchant, Eriq La Salle, and Elise Neal.