I think many people might be under the impression that Robert Rodriguez is actually directing PREDATORS rather than just producing, but that’s not the case. Nimrod Antal is actually the man behind the camera, and he recently sat down with ComingSoon to talk about the film.
One piece of the interview that struck me the most was his explanation of casting Adrien Brody in the title role. I was scratching my head about that one, as was almost everyone else who heard it, but his rationale behind the decision does make some amount of sense.
“Again, it was a challenge in finding a balance. I think when we cast Adrian, there were a lot of people going, ‘What?’ but at the same time, if we cast a Vin Diesel in that role or if we cast anyone who is Arnold-esque, we would have been attacked for doing that. So we decided early on to go in a very different direction as far as the casting process, but it turned out fantastic. He plays a mercenary in the film and if you look at the guys in Iraq and Afghanistan today, they’re not ‘yolked-out’ Schwarzenegger-looking guys. They’re all very wiry and thin guys, and I think it’s going to play well.”
Hah, “yolked-out.” But yeah, I think we all would have rolled our eyes had Vin Diesel or Jason Statham shown up in the lead spot. At least we know Brody can act, and put enough grime on him and I think he’ll definitely look the part. Check out the rest of the interview here.