The Predator franchise is back once again, and now it’s got its new leading lady. Director Dan Trachtenberg, whose 2022 film Prey pumped new life into the sci-fi franchise, is making another standalone Predator film and Elle Fanning has now joined its cast.
Deadline broke the news of the casting, which reportedly happened in part because the Super 8 and Maleficent actress is a fan of the franchise. The project is currently called Badlands and while we don’t know specifically where or when the story takes place in relation to the other films, it is not the sequel to Prey. (That’s still in development and no one is currently attached.) Instead, Badlands is a film similar to Prey in that it takes place in a world with the Predator, but isn’t connected to anything in particular. Prey took place in the past and rumors suggest maybe this one takes place in the future but that’s not confirmed.
The trade also points out that while Prey debuted directly on Hulu, its distributor Fox has of late been releasing its genre films in theaters. Films like The First Omen, The Boogeyman and Alien Romulus. So it’s very possible, especially now with an established star, that Badlands will be a theatrical release.
Filming will take place later this year in New Zealand from a script Trachtenberg co-wrote with Prey writer Patrick Aison.
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