Casting is really beginning to heat up for Shane Black’s The Predator. Barely 24 hours have passed since we brought you the news that Trevante Rhodes, one of the many breakout stars from Barry Jenkins’ excellent Moonlight, had secured a role and now, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Keegan-Michael Key fancies his chances against the titular, grotesque alien.
The Keanu star, who is perhaps best known for his Comedy Central’s hit comedy series Key and Peele, has enlisted alongside Boyd Holbrook (Logan) and Rhodes to lock horns with the titular creature, indicating that his mysterious character hails from a military background. Neither Fox nor THR disclosed any further details on his on-screen persona, but we do know that Key rounds out an ensemble that also boasts X-Men: Apocalypse star Olivia Munn, who recently landed the part of an unnamed scientist. Solving the riddle of the extraterrestrial’s origins will no doubt be high on Munn’s list of priorities, and the fact that Shane Black’s 2018 redo is primed to shift the sci-fi action to the suburbs indicates that Munn and Co. will be fighting the monster (monsters?) from their doorsteps.
As previously reported, The Predator is expected to start shooting in late February, meaning that 20th Century Fox still has time to recruit a couple more stars before the cameras begin rolling. We’ll keep you posted as the studio’s casting process nears its conclusion.
Featuring a script penned by Shane Black and co-writer Fred Dekker, The Predator is on course to claw its way into theaters on February 9, 2018. An IMAX release is also on the cards, with Fox expected to roll out a similar treatment to both The Maze Runner: The Death Cure (January 12, 2018) and Alita: Battle Angel (July 20, 2018).