Prey, 20th Century Studios’ revival of the Predator franchise in its post-Disney-acquisition, played like gangbusters when it hit Hulu in 2022. A year later, Polygon spoke to director Dan Trachtenberg, who admitted the stakes were staggeringly high for what felt like an inevitable sequel — so he didn’t want to just crank out Prey 2. Instead, as announced in February, Trachtenberg and 20th Century would jump from the 18th century to the far future in Predator: Badlands, a sequel starring Elle Fanning now set for 2025.
But it turns out Badlands isn’t the only Predator project Trachtenberg has cooked up since Prey. In a new Hollywood Reporter interview, 20 Century Studios president Steve Asbell says a second Predator film, produced in secret, will also premiere in 2025. In the extended chat, the executive also promises a follow-up to Alien: Romulus and some incarnation of an Alien vs. Predator project.
Asbell doesn’t divulge too many details about the secret Predator sequel, but his details on Badlands cast it in a particularly exciting light. According to the exec, Badlands is the “live-action Predator film” hitting theaters next year, while the unnamed second project is… not a live-action project hitting theaters next year. The possibility of a Predator animated film might seem strange for 20th Century, considering its parent company Disney and sibling Pixar are the main players in the industry, a fully CG action movie would be an organic extension of the studio’s work with Weta on the Planet of the Apes film, especially from the guy who has a Warframe cinematic on his resume.
In the extended chat on the 20th Century Studios slate, Asbell also tees up a direct sequel to Alien: Romulus, following the characters Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and Andy (David Jonsson). While director Fede Álverez is not officially on board, the exec suggests the deals are close and the project is moving forward. Asbell also says that 20th Century will “probably” do an Alien vs. Predator again in the future, but it won’t resemble past attempts at the crossover franchise. “If we do this,”Asbell said in the interview, “they’ll be organically created out of these two franchises that we’ve continued with characters that we fall in love with and those characters will combine…perhaps.”Asbell says Trachtenberg’s not-live-action Predator movie will hit unnamed-distribution-platform before Badlands, which this week was set for Nov. 7, 2025. For more catnip updates on a Master and Commander prequel and potential Speed 3, read the full chat.
