2018 sequel The Predator experienced a major controversy when it was revealed that director Shane Black had knowingly cast a registered sex offender. The Predator came into 2018 with a healthy amount of hype. There hadn't been an entry into the Predator movie franchise since 2010, and fans were hungry for more action and excitement involving the galaxy's greatest hunter. To add to things, Shane Black was onboard as director, who had gone on to a successful directing career since his small acting role in the original Predator film.
Sadly, The Predator ended up coming and going without much fanfare. Some fans enjoyed it, but the sequel failed to make a dent at the box office, and earned mostly poor reviews from critics. As a result, the Predator franchise looks to be back on ice, at least for a while, as producers attempt to figure out how best to try and revive the property yet again. One wonders how Predator now being owned by Disney will affect future development.
As much as many fans were looking forward to the theatrical arrival of The Predator, the unfortunate truth is that now that the film is in pop culture's review mirror, it's far less likely to be remembered long-term than the big scandal surrounding its casting. Here's what happened.
The Predator’s Sex Offender Casting Controversy Explained
About one month before The Predator would be released in theaters, one of the film's stars, actress Olivia Munn, became aware that she had unwittingly shared a short scene with an actor who also happened to be a registered sex offender. The actor, named Steven Wilder Striegel, had pleaded guilty in 2010 to two felonies stemming from an attempt to arrange a sexual encounter with a teenage girl online. Livid, Munn went to Fox and demanded the scene - which involved Striegel playing a jogger who hit on Munn's character - be cut from the film. The studio obliged. However, the whole situation suddenly became public a few weeks later, right before The Predator was holding its world premiere screening at TIFF.
Fox immediately came under public fire, as did director Shane Black. For their part, Fox said they were unaware of Striegel's criminal record, but Black was a different story. Black and Striegel had been good friends since 2004, and the director had cast his friend in a few small roles since, in films such as Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys. Evidently, the cast and crew of those prior films either weren't aware of Striegel's past, or it didn't bother them enough to lodge a complaint. Black initially defended his decision to cast Striegel, but ultimately apologized publicly for doing so, and said Striegel had misled him as to the circumstances of his crimes.
Meanwhile, now that the story was public, Munn was being asked about it constantly, and was very blunt in her responses, expressing her extreme disappointment in Black, and later her co-stars for not speaking up to defend her publicly. They eventually did so, but Munn said she didn't accept Black's apology, as he hadn't spoken to her privately about the matter. She also took Fox to task for admonishing her previously after she had told the rest of The Predator cast about Striegel and his criminal history. Apparently, they thought she should consider the matter closed after they deleted the scene. Notably, Black hasn't signed on to direct anything since, and Striegel has only appeared in one project. It's not clear if it was shot before or after The Predator scandal became public.