Back in November, 20th Century Studios officially announced that the new Predator movie that’s coming to us from 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg is titled Prey and “is set in the world of the Comanche Nation 300 years ago”. While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, 20th Century Studios president Steve Asbell has now revealed the specific year that Prey is set in: 1719.
Last July, I wondered if the period setting of this film would allow for the return of a Predator we’ve seen before. “Could the Predator in this film be the same one we saw Schwarzenegger fight in the first movie? Or the one from the ending of Predator 2 that had a gun that was engraved in 1715? That would be a pretty cool franchise deep cut, if Trachtenberg’s film shows that Predator acquiring its 1715 gun.” Now it’s looking even more likely that this movie is going to be showing us the back story of that Predator and its engraved gun, since Prey is set just four years after that gun was engraved.
Asbell mentioned the setting while discussing the fact that several 20th Century Studios projects, including Prey, will be released through the Hulu streaming service:
In order to meet the volume that we are looking at — which is, by 2023, 10-plus movies just for streaming — it’s going to be a combination of originals in those genres (comedy, thriller, young adult, horror). And coolest of all for fans, we get to find bold takes on beloved Fox properties. You can take big creative swings — which you’ll see with Prey, which we’ll launch this summer. A Predator movie set in the Great Plains in 1719 by Dan Trachtenberg. That’s what this allows us to do.”
Also in the line-up of 20th Century Studios movies being made for Hulu is an Alien movie to be directed by Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead 2013, Don’t Breathe).
Written by Patrick Aison, Prey follows
Naru, a skilled female warrior who fiercely protects her tribe against a highly evolved alien predator.
Amber Midthunder (Roswell, New Mexico) stars alongside Dane DiLiegro (American Horror Stories) and Dakota Beavers of the band WesternBoy. DiLiegro is a 6’9″ former basketball player who has experience working in creature suits, so fans are speculating that he is this film’s Predator.
Prey is expected to reach Hulu sometime this summer.