Now that Disney holds the rights to all Fox titles following their acquisition of the studio last year, a number of franchises are currently in limbo. And one that’s certainly faltering and could use a rejuvenation is Predator.
On that note, we’ve heard today from our sources – the same ones who said Paramount is rebooting the Transformers franchise and that Lethal Weapon 5 is in development with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover returning, both of which we know to be true – that Disney wants Robert Rodriguez to direct the next Predator film. It’ll reportedly be a soft reboot and while the story is unknown, it sounds like they’ll be ignoring Shane Black’s The Predator from 2018. Oh, and the best part is, Rodriguez wants his pal, Quentin Tarantino, to write the script.
Bringing in Tarantino would certainly count as a rejuvenation. He’s long said that he’s only directing one more movie, but he also teased a Star Trek script he’d written and wanted to direct. The filmmaker’s since indicated that that might not happen now, but even if he only directs one more time, writing scripts doesn’t count. He began his career as a screenwriter, after all, having penned True Romance for Tony Scott, so he’s definitely more than capable of strictly crafting scripts moving forward.
Rodriguez behind the camera makes sense, too. He actually produced the 2010 reboot, Predators, which had a really cool premise despite the execution not being totally there. Rodriguez knows how to make genre films as well, but he hasn’t made a great movie in a while. I know Alita: Battle Angel has its defenders, but other than the visuals, the story and characters just weren’t that interesting.
But with Tarantino writing, Rodriguez could certainly make, at the very least, a decent Predator movie, which we’ve been clamoring for since the original was released back in 1987. Black’s 2018 version was immensely disappointing, leaving many to wonder if the franchise was officially dead. And while it might be on its last legs, a collaboration between Rodriguez and Tarantino would certainly breathe new life into it. I mean, who doesn’t want to see a Disney Predator movie with those two at the helm?