In a recent chat with JoBlo, Predator director Shane Black offered some updates on the upcoming film. He said of the project’s new star Boyd Holbrook, “I’ve spent some time with [him] now, he’s just marvelous, he’s amazing.”
The director went on to say that the film “…has to stand on its own two feet, but our goal is to make sure it acknowledges that, yeah, it is 30 years later in the continuity of the story. In other words, Dutch Schaefer’s patrol, which was attacked and largely slaughtered, happened 30 years ago in the context of the story. It’s referenced, it’s part of the mythology. In that way, it’s more of a sequel than a reboot.”
Boyd Holbrook (Narcos) was recently revealed to be replacing Benicio del Toro (Wolfman) in the film. del Toro reportedly had to back out of the project due to a scheduling conflict.
Shane Black recently told ComingSoon that the Predator will be getting some serious upgrades in terms of costume design, as well as abilities.
We still don’t know if Arnold Schwarzenegger will be returning to the series or not. However, if he does, it will likely only be in a cameo role. We do know that Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson has suggested that he is in talks to star in the film. However, the rapper’s involvement has not been confirmed by anyone other than Fiddy himself.
The picture is scheduled for release March 2nd, 2018. It is a collaboration between writer Fred Dekker (The Monster Squad) and Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang). Decker made the announcement last year that he had finished his treatment of the script but things were fairly quiet on the Predator front for some time after that announcement. In the past several months, we have seen a teaser image released, a release date announced, and a flurry of casting rumors have been circulating.
When the project was first announced, it was rumored that this would be a direct sequel to the first film, ignoring everything that came after it. And Black’s most recent comments seem to confirm that.
