Predator was pretty much stale and going nowhere before director Dan Trachtenberg was given the reins of the franchise to make the well-received Prey. In fact, that film proved so successful that he was given the go-ahead to make even more Predator projects, which has already led to the well-reviewed animated film Predator: Killer of Killers before taking us back to the live-action format in November for Predator: Badlands. It has seemed like these were the two Predator films that Trachtenberg had in the tank, but perhaps there was never just two...?
Speaking with SFX magazine (thanks, GamesRadar+), Trachtenberg seems to suggest that a third Predator project is in the pipeline too, and that this is the one he is most excited for.
"After Prey came out, and I started thinking about sequel stuff, there were three ideas that I had. Killers is one, Badlands is two and the third one is something else. The reason why I felt possessed to make them and sort of why I rushed - I did two at once because I could do, I could multitask with animation - was because I was so eager to get to the third thing."
He continues: "There's a lot of cool ideas out there and none of them are just like, 'Oh, we have to say the next part of this story because it was successful.' All of it is like, 'Whoa, no one has done that in sci-fi . No one has done that in Predator. No one's done that with the creature,' all of those ideas are generated from that instinct. So, yeah, there is definitely a third thing that I'd love to get to when Badlands is finished."
Trachtenberg's wording does suggest that this third project is a little further away than the rest, as he seems focussed right now on getting Badlands out the door. Still, considering the acclaim that his first two Predator projects have achieved, it doesn't seem unlikely that something else will be given the greenlight following Badlands in November.
Are you excited for more Predator?