The Predator might feature new Predator design, old Schwarzenegger

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

As Shane Black continues to do interviews for his new film THE NICE GUYS, more and more information about his next project, the "inventive sequel" THE PREDATOR, is being teased out. I have to say, Black is doing a great job at dropping interesting hints while still keeping THE PREDATOR cloaked in secrecy.

Talking to ComingSoon, Black revealed that the film's Predator won't just be sporting the same look and technology we've seen before, there's going to be some changes.

It's not to 'improve,' it's make it fun, make it different, make it organically different. So what's the extension of it that makes sense, that's exciting? There have been a lot of changes to Stan's design over the years. These different Predator movies have done different things. Ultimately it’s not about design to me, it’s about the story you want to tell. … In ‘The Predator’ we’re doing a lot of upgrades to what you would consider to be the traditional Predator technology and look, but hopefully the story is what’s going to drag people in, not just the attention to the minutiae."

As he says, there have been alterations done to the look and new technology added in each film that has followed the original PREDATOR, so it will be interesting to see what changes are made for this film.

During an interview with CraveOnline, Black acknowledges that there is indeed a reason why the movie is being called THE PREDATOR, but it's something he's not supposed to talk about. Even more intriguingly, he said the story addresses the idea that there might be different classes of Predator, not just the hunters we know.

Whether or not Arnold Schwarzenegger will be in THE PREDATOR is still a mystery, but fans who want to see Arnold return to the franchise may be heartened to note that it's Black who brings him up during the Crave interview. While discussing the timeline, saying THE PREDATOR is set in 2018, he added

So in other words, if Arnold [Schwarzenegger]’s in it – which I’m not allowed to discuss [laughs] – he would be old Arnold."

Directed by Black from a screenplay he wrote with Fred Dekker, THE PREDATOR is expected to start filming this fall and is scheduled to reach theatres on March 2, 2018.

That release date now puts it in direct competition with the Jason Statham shark thriller MEG.

Schwarzenegger in TERMINATOR: GENISYS