Shane Black Commends Dan Trachtenberg For Saving The Predator Franchise

The director whose movie seemingly killed the Predator franchise has nothing but good things to say about the filmmaker who later swooped in to rescue it.

“Dan Trachtenberg saved the franchise,” The Predator director Shane Black declared in a recent interview with THR, referring to Trachtenberg’s work on the 2022 release Prey, which has been credited with resurrecting an IP left moribund after Black’s own 2018 reboot flopped at the box office.

Black went on to recall how he felt watching Trachtenberg’s refreshing take on Predator lore, which sports a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to The Predator‘s deeply disappointing 34%:

His work is impeccable. I saw Prey, and all I could do was say, ‘Sir, my hat’s off. [It] was a really great mythic take. I feel like an audience member now, and I’m just happy to see whatever he does. So, yeah, I’m happy that the franchise is still humming, and he’s the right shepherd for it.

Predator: Badlands Takes The Franchise In Another New Direction

Trachtenberg’s shepherding of the Predator franchise continues with Predator: Badlands, an apparent Alien franchise cross-over set for release on November 7, 2025. Disney’s faith in Predator has seemingly been restored, as unlike Prey, Badlands is getting a theatrical roll-out under the 20th Century Studios banner.

The saga of Predator as a franchise has been a long and winding road. It all began with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s iconic 1987 original, but immediately took a bad turn with the much-maligned Predator 2 (which has lately been positively reassessed).

The worlds of Alien and Predator later collided with a pair of cross-over movies, Alien vs. Predator and Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, while 2010’s Predators took to an alien world in the first failed attempt at a true revival.

Black’s own swing at a Predator reboot met with the same fate as the 2010 film, and the franchise was declared dead. That was until Prey hit Hulu, introducing a new, exciting protagonist in Amber Midthunder’s Naru, a fresh monster variant dubbed the Feral Predator, and some exciting expansions of the franchise’s lore.

Prey 2 was seemingly set up by the first film, but a sequel has yet to be announced, as Trachtenberg turns his attention to Predator: Badlands. This summer’s animated film Predator: Killer of Killers set up an even more intriguing future, teasing that Prey’s Naru could one day team up with Schwarzenegger’s OG franchise hero Dutch.

Trachtenberg himself recently stoked rumors of Dutch coming back to the franchise, telling ComicBook.com that he met Schwarzenegger, who was “excited to talk about what else we could do.”

While Trachtenberg plots out the future of the Predator movies, former franchise director Black is touting his Prime Video action thriller Play Dirty, starring Mark Wahlberg as a master thief.