20th Century Studios is looking to continue the Predator franchise, with Deadline reporting that a fifth film has entered production. The studio has tapped a new team to bring the film to life, with Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) set to direct based on a script from Patrick Aison (Treadstone, Wayward Pines). Although specific plot details are unavailable, it seems the film will not be explicitly tied to the events or details of 2018’s The Predator.
With his previous projects, including the fan film Portal: No Escape and the Black Mirror episode “Playtest,” Trachtenberg has proven adept at creating tense, claustrophobic stories, suggesting a possible move away from the action-oriented focus of previous Predator films.
The series started in the 1980s with the first film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a soldier fighting against an overwhelmingly powerful alien foe. After a sequel and 20-year hiatus (sans Alien vs. Predator), the series returned in 2010 with Predators, starring Adrien Brody and Topher Grace among others as mercenaries trying to survive on an alien planet. The most recent film, 2018’s The Predator, returned to Earth and explored the idea that the titular creatures are seeking to improve their species through hybridization with others.
The series also received an asymmetrical multiplayer first-person shooter video game adaption called Predator: Hunting Grounds earlier this year, for which Schwarzenegger reprised his role.
