Elle Fanning is reportedly in talks to play the lead in Badlands, Dan Trachtenberg’s follow up to 2022’s well-received Predator film, Prey.
It looks like the next film in the Predator series may have found its lead, with reports suggesting that Elle Fanning is in negotiations to take the main role in Badlands, Dan Trachtenberg’s planned follow-up to Prey.
The story was broken by The Hollywood Reporter, which states that Fanning is in line to star, although as of yet we don’t know anything about the character she will play or the time or setting that the story takes place in (although rumours suggest that we might be headed into the future).
We do know that Dan Trachtenberg has already put out one terrific Predator film though, and hopes are high that he will repeat the trick again. A gripping entry in a series which was beginning to look somewhat shaky, 2022’s Prey firmly re-established lots of the series’ classic elements. It also used a 1719 Native American setting to revitalise a story that we’d already seen a fair few times but reframe it in a new and exciting way.
Read more: Prey | A few thoughts on a legacy sequel done right
Following Prey’s success, 20th Century Studios is reportedly developing a number of new Predator projects, with Trachtenberg believed to be overseeing things. We also know that the filmmaker has once again worked with Prey writer Patrick Aison, who’s written the script for Badlands.
As for Elle Fanning, she’s enjoying plenty of success herself at the moment. The actor is hot off an Emmy nomination and three Golden Globe nominations for her work in period comedy The Great and she’s also starring opposite Timothée Chalamet in James Mangold’s upcoming Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown.
One bit of info we’re still keenly waiting for is whether Badlands will get a cinema release this time around. Prey didn’t of course, going straight to streaming both here and in the US, but the distribution landscape has shifted somewhat in the last couple of years and so we’re hopeful that Badlands’ status as a theatrical release will be confirmed at some point.
We’ll bring you more on this one as we hear it.
