There's been talk of Disney/20th Century Studios potentially developing a new Alien Vs. Predator movie since Fede Álvarez's brought the acid-blooded beasts back to the big screen in Alien: Romulus, and this year's Predator: Badlands laid the groundwork by teaming a Yautja with a Weyland-Yutani synthetic.
Badlands director Dan Trachtenberg has previously expressed interest in helming a new crossover movie, but has also stressed that nothing is actually in the works right now.
During a new interview withy The Direct, Trachtenberg spoke about the prospect of the iconic creatures crossing paths again, making it clear that they don't want to rush into anything.
"For me, the coolest part of it would be grabbing these elements and letting them cook. You know, once again, we don't want to pull it out of the oven too quickly and have it all just be raw. We really want things to simmer and boil and get up to the perfect temperature. I don't know. I don't cook. Too many, too many terms now!"
The filmmaker also explained why he wanted to add the Alien connection to his Predator movie via Thia (Elle Fanning) and her synth crew.
"Idea number one was, because Prey was such a solo survival tale, I wanted this to be a relationship movie. Especially because we were going to have this Predator speaking in a different language and wanted to see it have a dynamic with something and interact, to get more of a window into its insides. Because it wasn't certainly going to voice them out loud. I wanted to pair him with something, and I knew if we put a human in the movie, then it becomes the human's movie, and he's just in it. And T2 already exists, you know? And it was really like, 'No, we've got to make sure that whatever else I put him in there with, he's still the protagonist.' And so I thought, a monster and a robot, there's something that's really fun about that."
Predator: Badlands is helmed by returning director Dan Trachtenberg (Prey, 10 Cloverfield Lane) and marks the franchise’s highly anticipated return to the big screen with a story that expands and redefines the Predator Universe.
Set in the future on a deadly remote planet, Badlands follows a young Predator outcast (played by newcomer Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) who finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Elle Fanning) as he embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
Produced by John Davis, Dan Trachtenberg, Marc Toberoff, Ben Rosenblatt and Brent O’Connor, Predator: Badlands opens exclusively in movie theaters on November 7 in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, RealD (3D), Cinemark XD, 4DX, ScreenX and premium screens everywhere.