In a week that’s already weathered some confusing franchise naming convention news (thanks Scream 5, I mean Scream!), another famous film series with questionable choice in titles is on its way back to the big screen: Predator.
After the strange Shane Black entry The Predator failed to ignite a spark under the franchise back in 2018, it seemed like maybe the films about dreadlocked alien big game hunters were going back into stasis. However, it seems that even if this franchise bleeds, you cannot kill it. Now it looks like 10 Cloverfield Lane filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg is going to bring back the franchise for a fifth film.
Just to keep everybody straight, that means the Predator movies will be as follows: Predator, Predator 2, Predators, The Predator, and this new movie. Either The Predator 2 or The Predators seem like they’d fit the vague formatting, but let’s hope they choose any other route (except, perhaps, pitting them once again versus the Alien franchise).
Patrick Aison, known for his TV work on shows like Treadstone, has written the script for what is now the untitled Predator 5. The plot is still secret, but The Predator left the door wide open if 20th Century Studios doesn’t want to 100% disown that film.
“The Predator ends with obvious intentions for a sequel and a closing line that so shamelessly does not give a shit about anything you might leave the theater feeling like you just got royally trolled,” wrote our own Dom Sinacola of the last entry in the franchise. That could either mean things are going to completely abandon those plans or get really wild. Trachtenberg’s Trach record has been really positive so far (he’s also done an episode each of The Boys and Black Mirror), so it’s easy to hop back on board if he’s helming the next film…as long as they title it something unique.