Shane Black says the Predator costume design will get an upgrade for the new film

Director Shane Black (Iron Man 3, Lethal Weapon) and his The Monster Squad co-writer Fred Dekker have been working on an “inventive sequel” to 20th Century Fox’s Predator since 2014, turning in the script late last year and revealing a teaser image in February. Now Black is on the campaign trail for his brilliant new detective movie The Nice Guys, and we got to ask him if he plans to change Stan Winston‘s iconic Predator costume design for his film, now titled The Predator.

“It’s not to ‘improve,’ it’s make it fun, make it different, make it organically different,” Black told us of his plans for the Predator costume. “So what’s the extension of it that makes sense, that’s exciting? There have been a lot of changes to Stan’s design over the years. These different Predator movies have done different things. Ultimately it’s not about design to me, it’s about the story you want to tell. There are people who are always going to agonize over Iron Man, what color his suit is. Maybe this weapon does a new thing, but if the story is not good I don’t give a sh*t what color the suit is. In ‘The Predator’ we’re doing a lot of upgrades to what you would consider to be the traditional Predator technology and look, but hopefully the story is what’s going to drag people in, not just the attention to the minutiae.”

During the same junket, Black revealed to JoBlo that filming will begin on The Predator either this September or October for a March 2, 2018 release.

Details on the film are still under wraps but producer John Davis previously said: “The writing is so fresh, the perspective is so fresh. I’m telling you, you’re going to get something you don’t expect and you’re going to say, ‘This is the most entertaining way to reinvent a franchise.’”

The original Predator was directed by John McTiernan and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the leader of a United States special forces team that comes under attack from an alien entity that prizes the thrill of the hunt above all else. It was followed by a direct sequel, Predator 2, in 1990 before crossing over with Fox’s Alien franchise for two additional sequels, Alien vs. Predator and AvP: Requiem. In 2010, Nimrod Antal helmed a reboot with a new feature, Predators.

Black is no stranger to the Predator franchise, having starred in the original film as Hawkins after having been brought on to help rework the 1987 film. He will direct the film from Dekker’s script, the story for which the pair created together.

How different would you like the Predator costume to look? Let us know in the comments below!

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