Shane Black discusses The Predator and Schwarzenegger

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The potential for the PREDATOR franchise is vast. Those human-hunting aliens have been coming to our planet for centuries, so you could make PREDATOR movie set all around the world in different time periods, including the future, which PREDATOR 2 was set in at the time (being a 1990 release set in 1997). You can also make sequels set on different planets, as PREDATORS was.

Very little is known about the next installment in the series, Shane Black's THE PREDATOR, and Black didn't shed much light on it during a recent talk with Collider, but he did reveal the time period in which it will take place. Responding to the question of whether or not it will address how much time has passed since the original 1987 film, Black said, 

This one will be set in present day."

Black also confirmed that there is talk of bringing Arnold Schwarzenegger back for this "inventive sequel",

I think it’s something we’re looking into, and as this thing evolves and takes on more of a shape, we’ll figure out how best to honor the tradition of what is really a remarkable first movie and even parts of the rest of them as well."

Black expects THE PREDATOR to be the next film he makes, which it would likely need to be in order to reach its March 2, 2018 release date. He has previously said that he wanted THE PREDATOR to be an event movie, much like his IRON MAN 3 was, with as much money as necessary behind it. Some have balked at the idea of a large scale PREDATOR film, and Black suggests they might be imagining something different than what he has in mind.

I mean, there’s great Predator movies, but to actually play with the idea of making it an event, not necessarily in scale — it doesn’t have to be huge — but it just has to feel like a Predator movie you want to see in the summer and line up for it. And that’s what we’re going for. Let’s get back to the excitement and innovation of that original movie where it felt fresh. 

Black is continuing to work on the script with his THE MONSTER SQUAD collaborator Fred Dekker.

PREDATOR co-star Elpidia Carrillo