Prey director Dan Trachtenberg is back on the hunt with a new Predator movie titled Badlands

Last Updated on February 26, 2024

After reinvigorating the Predator franchise with 2022’s crowd-pleasing Prey, filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg is getting back behind the camera for a new Predator film titled Badlands. The project is not a sequel to Prey but is said to take place in the future. Badlands will feature a female lead, with Trachtenberg penning the story while Patrick Aison writes the screenplay.

Trachtenberg is going into lockdown mode for Badlands, meaning he’ll keep details about the film under lock and key. Reports say development for Badlands is already underway, with July targeted as the project’s production start date.

Following the success of Prey, which many hail as the second-best film in the Predator franchise (or the best, depending on who you talk to), Trachtenberg commented on hopes for a sequel, saying, “I can’t really say anything about that right now, but I’ll say while we were finishing the movie, we were having really exciting conversations. The studio, myself, the writer, and the producers about what crazy things could we do next. And I’ve never stopped, no one stopped thinking about how cool things could be going forward.”

Adding to the discussion, Trachtenberg says he never approached Prey like a movie destined to debut on the Hulu streaming service: “I was in denial about that, that it was for streaming. I don’t even know that I would think it’s for streaming anyway and shoot that, the studio was in denial. No one was thinking, ‘Oh, let’s make a concession for streaming.’ Maybe there may have been, I don’t know. But even when I’ve done commercials that I know and people say, ‘Oh, it’s people looking on their iPhone.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, we watched movies on our iPhone that were shot, we have to treat it all as if it was the best version of itself.’”

What do you think about Dan Trachtenberg returning to the Predator franchise for another hunt? Where and when could the story take place? Did 2022’s Prey rekindle your love of the wicked alien warrior? We’ll bring you more details as soon as we hear more about Dan Trachtenberg’s Badlands.