It's been almost two years since the release of Predators. As Prometheus rolled into theaters this weekend I couldn't help but think, where is our Predators sequel? Robert Rodriguez and director Nimród Antal had been talking mentions a string of new Predator films being but have since moved on to other projects. 20th Century Fox had invested $40m for the production which ended up making around $150m in box office and DVD/BluRay sales. Not bad for a low budget action flick but they'll likely have to amp things up for the studio to be willing to shell out more money.
"[The first film] sets up a new storyline, new location and world, and then you can really go crazy from there....[The studio] said, 'Let's do some other ones. What other story ideas do you have?'" says the filmmaker. "Because it was like, let's test out the market with this one. They really wanted it to be pretty contained, pretty scaled-back. They didn't want to put too many of the ideas into it that we could save for a second one. So we could see what the appetite was, because the bigger movie would actually be what comes following that. That kind of sets up a new storyline, new location and world, and then you can really go crazy from there."
PREDATOR WAR: One thing that was hinted at during Predators is a full scale war among the predator clans. We saw a bit of this clash between the two predators and the tail-end. Predator culture for the most part has been a mystery to audiences. A sequel could explore this slightly more and a clash among clans would be something explosive to see.
There was an epic shot in the original trailer with Adrien Brody having a massive amount of predator laser targets lit up on him. This would later be revealed as a marketing trick as it ended up being only one target in the actual film. If we don't see a war at the very least they can amp up the sequel by increasing the amount of predators running around ala Aliens.
HUMANS WITH PREDATOR/ALIEN TECH: With the predator camp wiped out their cloaking devices and weapons are open game. Robert Rodriguez's original Predator sequel script (that didn't end up getting used) included a group of humans using predator gear. This could be an interesting aspect seeing humans brought to the planet arming themselves with cloaking devices and weapons. Waiting for the next horde of hunters to land their ship. This had been teased with Noland banding together whatever scraps he could find over the years. I don't see the AVP comics great source material but they have an interesting human/predator character Machinko.
THE RETURN OF DUTCH: Robert Rodriguez has stated that Predators would be a smaller film compared to the next film which would have bigger action sequences. It's not saying much considering Predators showed it's lack of budget from the get-go. The predators were really the draw of the film since they didn't have a real action star to headline the picture. Schwarzenegger had originally been wanted for a role but would later go to Laurence Fishburne playing Noland. Arnold is now back grinding out action films and had originally announced plans to be involved with a Predator reboot when he exited the governor's mansion.
"Well, first of all it's more like 15 films, obvious ones from The Terminator to remakes of Predator and The Running Man and all of those things. Then also a lot of original stuff too. But I am also packaging a Comic Book character right now. I'm going to announce that sometime by the end of March or the beginning of April."
His character Dutch factored in Robert's Predator sequel spec-script but that screenplay was reworked for Predators. There had been a giant plot including Dutch being taken to the Predator homeworld to entertain the population in gladiator area pitted against deadly aliens. Producer John Davis had talked to Collider giving the impression that Arnold could be back for the next installment if it ever get's made.
"If we were going to do it with Arnold; it was like, “Does it make sense to go back and to put him with a young team?” So maybe it’s 20 years later, you have retired, and you are the one person who has survived one of these encounters. Is that a reboot in the fact that you are in it with a group of young guys? Is that a reboot? You just have to figure out a way to reboot it. Rodriguez rebooted it. It’s all in the planet. The sequel to the first one rebooted it. We should’ve had Arnold in the movie. The deal broke down over $250,000, which is a shame. But it was moved from the jungle to the city. You have to create a freshness about it. When we did Alien vs. Predator we kind of rebooted it because we put the two pieces together. You just have to give it enough time to come up with a new freshness. It is what they did so brilliantly with Fast Five."
RODRIGUEZ COULD DIRECT IN 3D: Although Nimród Antal directed the last installment Fox might concerned he won't be able to amp up the action for the sequel. It might be a sticking point for Rodriguez to direct for the film to move forward. Fox will have a long wait on their hands as Robert will be shooting Machete Kills, Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For and Fire And Ice this year alone.
"I haven't talked to [20th Century Fox] in a while. I know they liked the idea of doing another one," he explained. "I should probably call and check in. I've just been busy doing these other things."
We've been seeing a rather large rise in R rated films getting the 3D treatment. Only a few are actually shooting in the format like Prometheus and the upcoming Dredd (Judge Dredd reboot). Robert had been a pioneer in the early days of the 3D revival and will be shooting Sin City 2 in the updated format. 3D conversations are usally giant studio cash-graps by boosting the ticket prices. However, a film like a Predators sequel could really optimize the experience if shot using that camera system.
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