Shane Black explains why he was finally willing to take over Predator

March 23rd 2016, 4:36pm

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Once upon a time, Shane Black was offered the chance to polish up the script for the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger classic PREDATOR in the hopes of improving upon what they already had. He declined. Then he was cast in a supporting role in the film (Rick Hawkins) with the idea being that his new investment in the success of the film might cause him to change his mind. Nope. That didn’t do the trick either. And yet somehow now, after all of that, Shane Black is at the helm for a new PREDATOR film that 20th Century Fox hopes will reinvigorate the franchise after a failed reboot with PREDATORS and those God awful AVP flicks. So what changed?

Thrillist had a chance to get answers from Black, and this is how he explained his change of heart.

They called me and I was reluctant. I said, ‘Look. You guys at Fox, I mean, I enjoy these movies, but we’ve been churning out these AVP whatever, they each cost a certain amount of money, they’re okay, but there’s no effort to elevate them or make them any kind of an event.’ They’re just sort of another Predator. ‘Oh, there’s another one that came out.’ They said, ‘What if we said to you we want to reinvent this, and really treat it with as much of an event status, or as much hoopla as we would the Alien prequel, which is coming out also? We really want to make this something. The kind of movie that people line up for.’ I said, ‘Really, you’ll spend a bunch of money?’ They go, ‘Yep.’ I go, ‘Make it really scale, spectacle.’ ‘Yep.’ ‘Shit, that sounds interesting.’

But that’s not all. There was still a question of how big to make a new PREDATOR film, given that the first one takes place entirely in one relatively contained jungle setting before its sequel moved to Los Angeles. Could a new PREDATOR be able to get away with something on that small a scale in today’s blockbuster landscape?

I think the first one was great, and it was contained, and it was a perfect little gem for what it was. I think there’s an expansion that needs to take place, and also just a love for that era, that movie, and the mythology of the Predator. I think that they came to me knowing pretty much that… they said, basically, if I wanted to make Predator but treat it like it was Iron Man III instead of just another little movie. I said, ‘Let’s really do it right this time.’

As for if we’ll be seeing Schwarzenegger pop up in what Black is planning, he’s much more coy on that front – “Still in talks, script still a secret.”