The upcoming 2018 reboot of The Predator won't be bogged down in gritty dark detail and serious tones to bring a bit of humor into the mix. According to director Shane Black of The Nice Guys and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang fame, the fresh installment for the failing franchise will be a mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly to ensure it will be right for a modern audience.
With production starting in 2017, with filming kicking off in Vancouver, Black will build on his work that kickstarted when he helped to develop the script for the Mel Gibson action smash hit Lethal Weapon. The revival from Fox will have a lot riding on the 2018 feature before any possible sequels can take place.
Black Sees Predator As More Than Your Average Sci-Fi
Speaking with the Collider website, Black says he has looked at the franchise as a whole and understands what makes it ticks.
“I think the Predator movies have slightly veered from typical sci-fi in that there is a sort of thriller aspect to them," argues Black. "It should be scary, I think it should be funny, and I think ultimately it should be wondrous and about perceiving things that human beings very seldom get a chance to see. I don’t mean movie audiences I mean characters in the movie. I’m not saying the movie will be nothing anyone’s seen before (laughs).”
With Boyd Holbrook reportedly on board the project, he knows the casting will be crucial for the tone of the flick and how they interact on and off set.
“I think it’ll be interesting to get a group of credible guys—the hallmark of the first one is you have guys together that are kinda funny and self-referential and also very tough," says Black. "I don’t know that we’re going to deviate over much from that, but there are at least a couple of factors that we’ve deliberately chosen to make it not just that group of buff, tough guys.”
2018 Film Could Follow In Deadpool's R-Rated Footsteps
With Fox on board following on from their success with the R-rated superhero romp Deadpool, Black thinks The Predator would be best suited to go big and let it be as violent and family unfriendly as possible.
“Fox has been very cooperative. I mean part of it is the success they had with Deadpool, but I also made a case—and I think they agreed—that fans of the Predator generally, probably aren’t looking to go to see a PG-13-rated version of it," Black said. "It would be more of a letdown if it was sort of tailored to a family friendly audience than if it were allowed to play out to the same scale and level that the first R-rated one did.”
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