20th Century Studios debuted the first trailer for the next live-action movie in the Predator franchise, Predator: Badlands, yesterday, and director Dan Trachtenberg has now shared some new details with Bloody Disgusting.
The filmmaker confirms that Badlands will take place on the Predators' home planet of Yautja Prime, as we follow a “runt” named Dek (played in costume and motion-capture by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) as he joins forces with a mysterious woman (Elle Fanning) in an attempt to take down a massive creature as a rite of passage.
“One of the cool things about the movie is that we’re on Yautja Prime—there’s a lot in this movie from the extended universe. We insanely decided to treat [the language] properly like [Elvish] for Lord of the Rings or [Dothraki] for Game of Thrones, except for those there’s more precedent.”
As for Fanning's character, Thia, the trailer seemed to make it pretty clear that she was no ordinary human, and Trachtenberg also confirms that she is indeed a Weyland-Yutani synth (or artificial person, if you prefer).
“As inspired as I am by movies, I’ve been very inspired by video games [like] Shadow of the Colossus, where you have a protagonist paired with someone else who provides color and connection. There’s a thing with a horse in Shadow of the Colossus that’s devastating when you play the game. And so [Predator: Badlands] was a little bit inspired by that in terms of wanting to see the Predator with someone else, this character who’s the opposite of him. He’s very laconic, [Fanning] is not. She’s capable in ways that he is not. Physically, she’s got a real thing that I’m so excited for you guys to see. But I want to let eventually some of that speak for itself.”
Finally, Trachtenberg makes it clear that this is going to be a very different kind of Predator movie. “It’s a big, crazy swing, and I think that’s what drives butts into seats. If you want the same old Predator experience, you can hit play on Predator or Prey or any other, whichever one is your fit.”
Predator: Badlands is "set in the future on a remote planet, where a young Predator (Schuster-Koloamatangi), outcast from his clan, finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Fanning) and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary."
Trachtenberg directs and produces Predator: Badlands alongside John Davis, Marc Toberoff, Ben Rosenblatt, and Brent O’Connor. The movie opens exclusively in movie theaters on November 7 in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, Cinemark XD, 4DX, ScreenX, and premium screens everywhere.