Samuel Edwards give you the low down on Predator 5 and what we know so far!
It has been 33 years since the iconic Predator hit screens in 1987.
With a budget of 18 million, the film grossed nearly 100 million dollars worldwide and has been embedded in popular culture as one of the greatest science fiction action films ever made.
Arnold Schwarzenegger would also star in Total Recall and the first two terminator films.
All of those films were very intelligent pieces that either included social commentary or took the action genre to another level whether though effects or the storyline, it raised the standard.
All of these films were directed well but more importantly Arnold gave a convincing performance in every role.
Audiences forget just how good he was in the original predator, showcasing his ability to portray actual fear when he encounters the predator, which in itself is very horror like.
However, Predator has been become culturally popular not only because of the one liners and Arnold’s performance but because of the excellent direction by John Mctiernan who did a bold job to get audiences immersed in the jungle and afraid of a rather strange but terrifying creature, with the awesome one- liners.
What We Know About Predator 5
This new predator film (Predator 5) will be helmed by 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg who has also made some episodes from Black Mirror and The Boys. He brought a strong sense of suspense in 10 Cloverfield lane, which I hope he can bring to Predator 5.
The film will also not be connected to the Shane Black’s Predator which is promising. It is mentioned that Disney will be responsible for production.
Disney who made family friendly classics such as The Lion King, Up and Tarzan are now in the production process of making a Predator film, although 20th Century Fox will have more creative control.
The plot is said to take place in the past before the original and may feature Native Americans.
With this, the film is set to explore broader parts to the origins of the predator species and will feature parts from the novels and comic books.
Patrick Aison will also be one of the writers, who has worked on several TV series including Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Wayward Pines and Treadstone.
A release date is unconfirmed.
The long term success of this franchise is highly dependent on this sequel.
The plot seems interesting as it is changing the predator formula by telling a story that takes place long in the past rather than present day.
We have not seen a good representation of that storyline yet.
The news of this installment will polarize the fanbase. Whilst some people will back the film, others I’m sure will think it’s a bad idea due to its track record of failed sequels.
20th Century are taking gamble with this project.
After evaluating the quality of the sequels, this new film needs minimal humor and has to be in the vein of both horror, action and sci fi.
The plot although not confirmed, seems different enough to work as it seems to expand historical dimensions of this character.
I assume the film will take place in the jungle which is a must as it keeps the horror factor alive. Casting a charismatic lead role will be important and there have been no reports on casting as of yet.
One aspect is for sure is that after several failed sequels, I hope producers understand how to get the predator formula right but it is hard.
However, the source material is interesting enough for there to be one more good installment hopeful equaling the quality of the original.
The fanbase has been kept alive through the expansion of comic books and novels, so this new film has to be tailored towards the fans in order to achieve the success of the original.
The Original Predator
The predator franchise has had a turbulent past, never quite reaching its predecessors status.
After the success of the original, Arnold backed out of the sequel and was replaced by Lethal Weapon star Danny Glover.
The sequel wasn’t terrible by any means, however at times it felt like a very straight forward typical 90’s action film with no target selling point.
The film wanted to differentiate from the first by making the plot take place in a city, which seemed out of place for these species to exist and not claustrophobic enough.
Their primal and realistic habitat has always been the jungle and the positive elements from this franchise has always existed when they have put the predators in the jungle, although I would like to ignore the AVP films.
Predators, on the other hand was criminally underrated. The director, Nimrod Antal was smart enough to return to the franchise roots by incorporating a similar plot and environment which reminds audiences of the first film.
It has both tension and nostalgia.
The cast was full of good actors including Adrien Brody as the lead, although he didn’t have perhaps enough charm or humor as Arnie had.
The film would receive a positive 64% on rotten tomatoes. Although the film has received more negative reviews from the fanbase in recent years due to its cliché setting.
Shane Black’s Predator had a lot of positives going for it. The cast, director and even the plot looked like it could rekindle the interest of the franchise.
The film flopped financial and received a shocking 33% on rotten tomatoes and was a total miscalculation on all fronts.
Shane Black included a lot of humor and not all of it worked.
Most importantly, the film wasn’t scary which was a huge letdown. Making the film more violent and gory does not make the film any scarier.
It’s the claustrophobic scenarios of not knowing where the predator is and not predicting the creatures next move that’s frightening.
Predators tackled this very well in 2010.
In terms of success, Alien has been the far greater franchise. If we ignore Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection.
The franchise has kept its motives and tone in the right direction. Aliens was a far greater sequel to Alien then predator 2 was to Predator.
Not only this, but the franchise has done well enough to warrant a prequel trilogy, which audiences and critics mostly like but using the opinion from the fanbase to determine how good an alien film is in today’s world of popular culture is not a straight forward task as both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant had fresh rotten tomatoes score but you can find several rants online complaining about the narrative confusion of both films.
Predator 5 article by Samuel Edwards
