Prey aka Predator 5 (Dan Trachtenberg)

pixelburp

Best not watch Mulan, or Brave, the myriad Joan of Arc adaptations, or any other "historical woman powers past the patriarchy" style stories

Whether or not this film bombs financially ultimately comes down to budget IMO: for comparisons here as it was mentioned, Terminator Dark Fate had a budget of approx. $190 million (making $260 million globally), compared with the 2018 Predator film coming in at $88 million (and making $160 million globally). Two vastly different productions in terms of dollar amounts, not to mention the perceived "star power" expected of Arnie in the Terminator sequel.

Both films "flopped", but I'd argue Predator started from a much healthier position, and likely had lower overall expectations or projections. It doubled its budget, so technically broke even if we go back the 2x budget rule of modern blockbusters. It feels unlikely this new film's budget will exceed that 2018 film, so even with CoVid likely causing a downturn in box-office when cinemas reopen, I expect this new Predator film to have a modest budget and scope.

yourdeadwright

The original is my favourite ever movie

It's actually impossible to recreate the magic,
I don't care how good the director is , how much they spend, how well written the story is its IMPOSSIBLE ,

The magic of the original is that you have no idea what the lads are dealing with , you have idea what is hunting them ,
Once you see the "monster " that it the magic is over ,

Every movie since you know what is waiting for them , you know what is hunting them , the thing that made the magic is gone , The cat is out of the bag ,

I will still watch but its just for nostalgia of remembering what it was like to see the original for the first time as a kid ,

Agent Coulson

I think the main issue of a Predator film is that the Predator is the secondary character the main character/s is always the human/s and their story.

Would a film from a Predator point of view work?

Skerries

turns out that the Predators came to earth was so they could take off their masks as Covid has destroyed theirs

CastorTroy

Turns out the Engineers created humans for the predators to hunt

p to the e

Predator McPredator face

pixelburp

Turns out the real Predators were the friends we made along the way.

p to the e

I can see the trailer now.

A slowed down, breathy version of Duran Duran's "Hungry like the wolf". A young native American girl, but not too Native American, sits listening to her Native American grandfather, who is very Native American, tell of the legend of the Devil that comes from the sky.

Cut to heat signature view and a heartbeat. "All of the previous films in the series has been leading to this". "We must understand their past to catch... a Predator". Chaos ensues. And then a cameo from a small buy who's name is... Sonny.

WrenBoy

"Runs with Buffalo,, You Son of a Bitch "

CastorTroy

Maybe it opens with a previously unseen scene from the first Predator where Billy is telling the others the story of how his people fought a creature that fell from the sky

WrenBoy

CastorTroy wrote: »

Maybe it opens with a previously unseen scene from the first Predator where Billy is telling the others the story of how his people fought a creature that fell from the sky

Im sure there will be an homage alright where a warrior cuts his chest and stands blocking a bridge or something.

p to the e

CastorTroy wrote: »

Maybe it opens with a previously unseen scene from the first Predator where Billy is telling the others the story of how his people fought a creature that fell from the sky

I wrote Sonny actually meaning Billy. Sonny was his real name.

mikekerry

yourdeadwright wrote: »

The original is my favourite ever movie

It's actually impossible to recreate the magic,
I don't care how good the director is , how much they spend, how well written the story is its IMPOSSIBLE ,

The magic of the original is that you have no idea what the lads are dealing with , you have idea what is hunting them ,
Once you see the "monster " that it the magic is over ,

Every movie since you know what is waiting for them , you know what is hunting them , the thing that made the magic is gone , The cat is out of the bag ,

I will still watch but its just for nostalgia of remembering what it was like to see the original for the first time as a kid ,

I remember going to the cinema to see it as a teenager and being blown away.
everything about it - the atmosphere, the jungle, the actors , the tension, the alien and of course arnie ( his best film)- Just a brilliant film.
Still love watching it on tv when it's on repeat

Slydice

I saw there's a TV show called Predator Bloodlines just out and then I saw this thread was popping..

I was... mislead

Corvo

I must be the one of the few who thinks this doesn't sound too bad

pixelburp

Corvo wrote: »

I must be the one of the few who thinks this doesn't sound too bad

No, I think the idea has potential, and TBH ever since Danny Glover was given a 19th century revolver for killing a Predator, the door has laid wide open for historical sequels. It's such an obvious way to keep the franchise fresh, while maintaining a sense of danger.

Homelander

I'm confused now as to when this is set. I see reference to it being set long before before any European settlers arrived in America, but the other day I saw two seperate mentions of American Civil War period, with otherwise identical blurb.

Church on Tuesday

Plot synopsis sounds awful but I'm still intrigued to see a Predator film set in times past.

pixelburp

Interesting developments. Looks like there are legal wrangles going on re. the Predator IP: specifically, the original screenwriters of the '87 film are claiming Disney should have lost control since Saturday. The article has no follow-up given that Saturday is now passed mind you. I'd be disappointed if this holds up or cancels the Trachtenberg production - but then anything that loosens Disney's grip on Hollywood IPs has my initial vote

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/predator-screenwriters-suing-disney-to-recapture-rights

MisterAnarchy

The original was on tv at the weekend.
I must have seen it 10 times but its still a great watch.

MJohnston

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I think there could be more online backlash of cultural appropriation if the don't cast a Native American actress than there would be with a female action lead

I wonder if there are any many actresses who are Comanche or of Comanche decent.

The only female actresses that are Native American or of Native American decent that I can think of are Devery Jacobs who was in American Gods & The Order on Netflix and Julia Jones.

I know Kelsey Chow from Yellowstone say she is of Native American decent however the tribe she say she is from say they have no evidence that she is.

This is an older post, but Lily Gladstone was absolutely superb in Certain Women, and would be an excellent choice if that's the route they went down.

Then again, this is the Hollywood studio system, so there's close to zero chance they'll cast a relative unknown.

Here's my big take: the reason why the likes of The Terminator or Predator are so hard to replicate is because those films were made in the low-budget, minimal interference ways that only indie movies get nowadays. A franchise, especially one Disney own, won't be allowed to only make a couple hundred million dollars anymore. But these films need to be scrappy, relatively small-scale, and auteur driven.

pixelburp

MJohnston wrote: »

This is an older post, but Lily Gladstone was absolutely superb in Certain Women, and would be an excellent choice if that's the route they went down.

Then again, this is the Hollywood studio system, so there's close to zero chance they'll cast a relative unknown.

Here's my big take: the reason why the likes of The Terminator or Predator are so hard to replicate is because those films were made in the low-budget, minimal interference ways that only indie movies get nowadays. A franchise, especially one Disney own, won't be allowed to only make a couple hundred million dollars anymore. But these films need to be scrappy, relatively small-scale, and auteur driven.

I wouldn't call it an especially hot take: The Terminator was made for relative buttons, with Cameron getting a free ride to make the film he wanted because nobody expected much. You can't take those kinds of low-rent productions, inject the studio system and executive oversight into their veins and yield the same results. Yet Hollywood persists, especially now Blockbuster cinema is so IP driven, rather than by stars or ideas; so the likes of Disney will gouge those franchises 'til the market truly collapses, or the fans start dying off :pac:

I still have to wrap my head around the fact Predator and Alien are now Disney products. I might actually visit The Happiest Place on Earth, if random employees suddenly had chest-bursters leap from their costumes, and splatter random patrons

MJohnston

pixelburp wrote: »

I wouldn't call it an especially hot take: The Terminator was made for relative buttons, with Cameron getting a free ride to make the film he wanted because nobody expected much. You can't take those kinds of low-rent productions, inject the studio system and executive oversight into their veins and yield the same results. Yet Hollywood persists, especially now Blockbuster cinema is so IP driven, rather than by stars or ideas; so the likes of Disney will gouge those franchises 'til the market truly collapses, or the fans start dying off :pac:

I still have to wrap my head around the fact Predator and Alien are now Disney products. I might actually visit The Happiest Place on Earth, if random employees suddenly had chest-bursters leap from their costumes, and splatter random patrons

Oh I'm not claiming it as a hot take or anything, it's fairly obvious to most. It's just a frustrating, inevitable outcome of capitalism being favoured over artistic endeavour. The best thing about the older Hollywood system (not the Old Hollywood system, specifically, just like, pre-franchise exploitation) is they used to have a bit of a reckless streak when it came to money — sometimes art actually was favoured over making money.

The problem is that the majority of the most beloved IPs are now owned by Disney, or some other studio that's been bought by some telecommunications corp. And they're all utterly uninterested in making a $20m movie that makes $100m, which is just completely depressing.

The saddest thing is that Netflix might be one of the few non-indie studios now that actually has an incentive to occasionally make low or mid-budget stuff that appeals artistically.

yourdeadwright

Lads don't do this to yourselves

Predator is my favourite movie off all time ,
Absolutely loved it but it simply can not be replicated no matter how good the director or script is
The magic was as simple as we did NOT know what was hunting them , we had no idea what the Predator was , they can not recreate that when the cat is out of the bag,

MJohnston

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Lads don't do this to yourselves

Predator is my favourite movie off all time ,
Absolutely loved it but it simply can not be replicated no matter how good the director or script is
The magic was as simple as we did NOT know what was hunting them , we had no idea what the Predator was , they can not recreate that when the cat is out of the bag,

I’m not saying you can replicate Predator, I’m saying you could very well make an excellent movie in the Predator universe. Much like Aliens doesn’t replicate Alien.

Dades

MJohnston wrote: »

I’m not saying you can replicate Predator, I’m saying you could very well make an excellent movie in the Predator universe. Much like Aliens doesn’t replicate Alien.

Or Paddington 2 doesn't replicate Paddington.

MJohnston

Dades wrote: »

Or Paddington 2 doesn't replicate Paddington.

There could, and maybe should, never be two Knuckles McGintys.

pixelburp

Dades wrote: »

Or Paddington 2 doesn't replicate Paddington.

It's weird 'cos it can't even be claimed the Paddington IP isn't as big or marketable as Predator; that bear shifts products, yet the sequel didn't fall into the sequel trap at all. In fact to my mind #2 is the better movie - that's an even rarer pearl when it comes to sequels.

Then again, Paddington 2 wasn't born from the Hollywood system (AFAIK), so perhaps it's simply a case that it never risked being contaminated by the kind of thinking that frequently stymies follow-ups.

Dades

All credit to Knuckles McGinty and Phoenix Buchanan!

Similar to T2, P2 is also my favourite. :P

mikhail

Dades wrote: »

All credit to Knuckles McGinty and Phoenix Buchanan!

Similar to T2, P2 is also my favourite. :P

I thought you meant P for Predator there, which would have been a shoulder mounted cannon blast to my esteem of your opinions on movies.