Shane Black talks about getting excited for his upcoming Predator flick

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

It's been about a month since we spoke with Shane Black and reported that he was aiming to shoot his PREDATOR film in September. Now that THE NICE GUYS is out in theaters, more of his attention is being drawn to the sci-fi sequel, and from the sound of it, the man couldn't be more excited! This time around the writer/director spoke with IGN and talked about his present-day film and what his intentions are with it.

Shane Black on his PREDATOR film:

The train is rolling I should say. I think it's pretty clear now that this is the next thing I'm gonna do, is work on that. We're having a lot of fun. The idea is to take what has been a series of kind of modest knock-off type movies which all made a guaranteed return. Not bad movies but certainly not on the level of what Ridley [Scott] was doing with Alien and then Prometheus and now this very much lauded prequel/sequel coming up. How can I follow in the footsteps of someone who re-invents and brings that much event-ised quality to a pulp franchise. How do you get people to know about the Predator and buy their tickets a month before it comes out as opposed to just 'What are you seeing tonight? We can see a comedy or… oh, there's a new Predator.' No, no, this one we want to make people aware of – we've paid a lot of attention, there's even some more money spent.

We're going to get a great cast and we really just write it and write and and write it – just keep writing it to make it as interesting and stuffed with ideas as we can and hopefully to re-infuse it with a sense of mystery. The worst thing you could hope for in one of these is a shot in bright sunlight of a field and the Predator just kind of walks on and 'hello' – you want to do… I keep going back to Ridley Scott, the way he captured the alien in that first movie. The sense of mystery and portent. If we could just cut into a little piece of that – that sort of vibe – and then I think there's humor to be had too. And tonal shifting. I'm just having a ball. I'm getting more excited by the day, 30 years later working on this damn thing. Who would have thought when we started out and they were saying 'Geeze the costume doesn't work – throw this back to Winston and let him save the day!" Eight weeks later "I don't know, looks like dreadlocks to me!" Suddenly it's the most iconic costume ever. It's the most iconic movie ever. It's lasted 30 years and here I am god blessedly making a… it's just unbelievable to me.

Whether or not it ties into PREDATORS:

Well it seems to me if we set ours in 2018 which is when the film is set, then we can only be a prequel to that one, so you could say yes it exists, but people won't be discussing it really.

It's probably no secret that film won't have a direct connection to the other ones (aside from maybe the first), although I am curious to see how he's going to inject that sense of intrigue into modern day. IGN also questioned him regarding his connection with Dwayne Johnson in Doc Savage, and when asked if it was possible that the man may take part in PREDATOR, Shane replied, "Oh! Um, well look, I'm meeting with him in a couple of weeks. Who knows?" I wouldn't hold my breath, but you never know! In any case, it's great to see a filmmmaker like Black so on-board with a franchise that's deserved a lot better over the years. Here's hoping the man can craft the first great sequel to PREDATOR!

Shane Black's PREDATOR aims to shoot this September.