Story details and an official title are confirmed for Predator 5. Arnold Schwarzenegger first battled the Predator in a 1987 action film that is now considered one of the star’s most iconic outings.
The original Predator was indeed such a big hit that it spawned a 1990 sequel not starring Schwarzenegger. The disappointing Predator 2 sadly set a tone for future movies involving the films’ race of alien hunters battling humans. The series was rebooted in 2010 with mixed results and again in 2018 with even more mixed results. But the Predator is such a cool sci-fi character that filmmakers can’t resist revisiting him over and over again. Recent reports indicated that the planned fifth Predator film would be a prequel set during the time before Europeans colonized America and would see a fierce Native American warrior battling the titular Predator. Dan Trachtenberg of 10 Cloverfield Lane fame reportedly began developing the movie while the 2018 film The Predator was already in production.
It’s now been confirmed by Disney (via Deadline) that Predator 5 is indeed a prequel set in the Comanche Nation 300 years in the past and involves a female warrior named Naru protecting her tribe against a highly-evolved alien invader. The movie shot under the name Skulls but it’s now been confirmed that its actual title is Prey.
Shooting on Predator 5 indeed recently wrapped in Calgary and it was confirmed at that time that Legion star Amber Midthunder plays the role of Naru. The cast also includes Dakota Beavers and Dane Diliergo. And back in the role of the Predator is Kyle Strauts, who played the character in Shane Black’s 2018 film. By way of hyping up the newest entry in the decidedly uneven Predator franchise, producer John Davis recently said the film is just as good as the Schwarzenegger original. “I feel like the first one was a wonderful, interesting movie and I know what worked about it,” he said, adding, “I feel like we kind of never got back there again.”
It would indeed be an understatement to say that the Predator franchise has never gotten back to what made the original movie good. Recent reboot attempts have tried to change up the formula in various ways but those movies’ ideas have always fallen short. Perhaps Predator 5 being a prequel set in a world without modern weaponry will help the movie find some of the magic of the first film. Predator of course showed how useless military hardware ultimately was against the highly advanced alien, with Schwarzenegger only defeating him once he reverted to old-fashioned traps. This same concept will seemingly be in play in Predator 5 as Naru tries to protect her people against this otherworldly threat. The film is set to be released in 2022.
Source: Deadline