Kicking things off with a bang at the first day of San Diego Comic-Con was 20th Century Fox’s The Predator. Director Shane Black showed up with members of the cast to promote the latest installment in the franchise, giving attendees something to be scared about with a better look at the massive genetically modified Upgrade Predator and their crazy hell-hound companions. Black has been hesitant to show too much footage from his The Predator because he doesn’t want the whole movie to be spoiled from promotional material before it has a chance to hit theaters.
The Predator director Shane Black co-starred in the original 1987 film and was recently asked why he wanted to return to the franchise on the other side of the lens this time around. Ultimately, it was a sense of nostalgia that led to Black taking the project on. However, it wasn’t nostalgia for the Predator franchise, it was more of a feeling that the director wanted to recapture from his youth, which was a feeling of being a “wide-eyed kid” with his friend, sitting in the theater.
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The decision to make The Predator was made quickly, and Shane Black admits that it’s the most work that he’s ever taken on. When it comes down to it, the first movie captured the aforementioned feeling that Black wanted to recreate and admits that it was a difficult process over time. The director feels that the original 1987 film was a defining moment in cinema, which is why it has endured for so long. He explains.
When it comes to The Predator, Shane Black admits that he was using the original source material as a jumping off point. He took a new group of guys, along with a woman, and updated the idea, adding some new interesting twists that have not been showcased in other movies in the franchise. Black set out to separate The Predator from the pack, and make something unique with his vision. He had this to say.
“It’s like the most work we’ve ever done, but I like the idea of a movie that is a throwback to a time that the first movie captured so much - not just because I was there on set, but because it was a real defining movie, combining the Rambo craze of that era with the sci-fi Alien craze in a way that for some odd reason has endured for 30 years.”
The Predator hits theaters on September 14th, but thanks to San Diego Comic-Con, we have a better look at what we’re going to see on the big screen this fall. For one thing, the Upgrade Predator looks even more menacing than previously thought, which gives the film a certain mysterious quality to it, something that Shane Black more than likely orchestrated on purpose. While we’ve seen a few clips from Black’s take on the Predator franchise, it appears that we haven’t seen anything yet. You can check out the latest trailer for The Predator below, provided by 20th Century Fox.
“Mostly, the fun for me, came from assembling another group of guys, and a girl, of course, similar to what we had done in the first movie, but making them different, making them refreshed and sort of updated. To the degree that the first one influenced me, it was just riffing on it. I still want that group of guys, but not so perfected, maybe a little more broken, they have to struggle to regain or capture what they’re good at, as opposed to already being the best in the world.”
