The next beloved '80s franchise to get the reboot treatment will be Predator, and you might like who's at the helm.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the franchise that began with the Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring 1987 cult classic will be relaunched by Shane Black, the writer who gave us action classics like Lethal Weapon and proved he could also deliver action in the director's chair with Iron Man 3 last year. Black has a history with the franchise already, since he had a small role in the original film and was asked by the studio to do some polishing of the script back in 1986, but now he'll be the man in charge.

Black's signed on to write a treatment for the project, then oversee scripting duties while his The Monster Squad collaborator Fred Dekker works on the screenplay. Black will also direct. It's not clear yet when the film will be released, and Black's still got other projects on his plate, like that Doc Savage movie he's been wanting to make for so long. It might be years before we see this flick, but putting Black in the mix adds an immediate layer of interest.

It's also interesting to see news of a reboot for a film franchise that just released its most recent installment -- the Robert Rodriguez-helmed Predators -- four years ago. For quite a while, it's seemed like Fox was perfectly happy to churn out a Predator sequel or crossover here and there, but a full-scale reboot in the hands of a hot writer-director with lots of proven action experience is swinging for something much bigger. Predators did respectable box-office numbers, grossing about three times its reported budget, but a reboot with the right stars could pull in hundreds of millions of dollars for the studio.



So Shane Black's been handed the keys to another major action franchise. We'll likely have to wait a while to see where he takes it, but for now, what do you think? Is it a smart move?

(Via THR)