Shane Black’s The Predator felt like it could have been a huge resurgence for the Predator franchise after two horrible AVP installments and an adequate but forgettable sequel with the Robert Rodriguez produced Predators. But ultimately the film was financially unsuccessful and seemingly drew more than the share of ire from fans.

While responding to a fan on Facebook, co-writer Fred Dekker revealed his frustrations with toxic Predator fans and his own hatred for the Predator Killer Suit scene tagged onto the ending of the film. Which had been added during the film’s reshoots in Vancouver.

The more puzzling recent developments have been the set photos posted by Studio ADI that revealed that Aliens’ Ellen Ripley and an adult Newt aka Rebecca Jordan almost made the cut for that sequence as well. Something about that whole thing feels like studio executives spitballing ideas rather than Shane Black himself, which tends to happen with the Alien and Predator franchises (along with other big expensive films).

Despite promises from franchise producer John Davis about two more movies, the weak box office performance and an overall dislike for the film may lead to yet another soft-reboot down the line. I did like a couple of things in the film like the nods to the previous films but the action sequences/pacing felt all over the place and the attempt to harp on the comedic elements of the previous movies (that wasn’t their main focus) certainly felt out of place for the material and didn’t exactly land the satirical tone they may have been going for.

My own personal hope is that once Disney and Fox finalize their merger they’ll reevaluate their IPs like Predator and how re-energize them accordingly. I’d love to see them move past this trope of modern Earthbound Predator stories and even though Predators was supposed to be set on a Predator hunting ground planet, it was just looked like a regular jungle/forest setting rehashed from the original. Pushing these stories in the distant future and off-world could be a way to change things up, giving fans something fresh in this series cause essentially they’re remaking the same movie over and over.

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SOURCE: FRED DEKKER