The chief of 20th Century Studios has revealed that Dan Trachtenberg has made not one, but two Predator films… and they’re both releasing next year.
Well, here’s something of a shocker. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, 20th Century Studio chief Steve Asbell was asked to confirm that next year’s Predator: Badlands would be getting a cinema release. As you’ll likely know, Dan Trachtenberg restored the Predator franchise to its former glory in 2022 with Prey, a storming prequel that as well as being a terrific film, also significantly broadened the canvas for what a Predator movie could be. Trachtenberg’s follow-up, Predator: Badlands is due next year, set in the future and seems like it might be looking to tear up the Predator rulebook all over again.
Prey went straight to streaming, but in confirming that Badlands would definitely get a cinema release, Asbell also revealed something truly momentous: Trachtenberg isn’t working on one Predator but two, with an additional ‘secret’ movie due to arrive before Predator: Badlands.
Here’s the reveal in Asbell’s own words: “Yes, a Predator movie will have a theatrical… After Prey became a success, Dan [Trachtenberg] came back and said he didn’t want to do Prey 2. And we’re like, ‘What do you want to do?’ And he rattled off a bunch of ideas that were really crazy but really cool. We’ve actually done two of them. Two are coming out next year. One I can’t talk about yet, but the other one is the live-action Predator film with Elle Fanning that just wrapped in New Zealand. That’ll be out theatrically sometime next year.”
Read more: Prey | A few thoughts on a legacy sequel done right
Note the use of the term ‘live action.’ More on that shortly. Absell went on to add, “There’s a second Predator movie that we have different plans for. Dan has actually directed both… there’s a secret Predator movie that will come out before the theatrical one but I can’t say anything about yet.”
That Absell uses the term ‘live action’ to distinguish Badands hints that maybe the other film isn’t live action, doesn’t it? According to fansite AvP Galaxy’s sources, the new Predator film is indeed animated, with Trachtenberg said to have directed an “anime film” which pits “the extra-terrestrial hunter against the samurai.”
We hope Trachtenberg isn’t too put out by this secret not being a secret any longer. After all, this is the filmmaker who made 10 Cloverfield Lane without telling his cast or crew they were making a Cloverfield movie, not to mention trying to keep Prey's status as a new entry in the Predator series a secret. We were already excited for Badlands, a film that Asbell describes as ‘bonkers’ but you can now consider our anticipation further stoked.
Predator: Badlands is due for release on the 7th November 2025. We’ll bring you more on this emerging story as we hear it.