In case you missed it: yesterday, it was announced that “Iron Man 3” and “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” director Shane Black was hired to direct and write the new treatment of a “Predator” film. Black, of course, also famously started his career as a writer (the “Lethal Weapon” series who eventually became one of, if not, the highest-paid screenwriter in all of Hollywood. The original report said 20th Century Fox would be rebooting the series which did raise a few eyebrows because they had just rebooted the series four years earlier via producer Robert Rodriguez and director Nimrod Antal (the film stalled out with less than $55 million domestically).
So if at first you don’t succeed with your reboot, try, try again to reboot, right? Maybe not. Speaking with Collider today, Black said his version of “Predator” will not be a do-over. Describing it instead as a “inventive sequel.”
“As far as Fred and I are concerned anyway [no it’s not a reboot],” he said. “Why start over, when you’ve all this rich mythology yet to mine?” Black said he doesn’t like reboots generally, but can “really get behind inventive sequels,” noting that he likes “the idea of expanding and exploring the existing Predator mythology, rather than hitting the restart button.”
Fair enough, but it’s likely not a sequel to Rodriguez’ “Predators,” right? Or is it a sequel to “Predators 2”? Basically: what film canon are you going to have to ignore here? Perhaps, the “inventive sequel” will be to the original, beloved-Arnie Schwaranegger version that Black himself co-starred in (in a minor role)? Black didn’t say and wasn’t pressed for details. Fred Dekker (“The Monster Squad”) will be writing the script. More info when we have it.