Shane Black Says THE PREDATOR Will Be Set in Present Day
Shane Black has grand plans for The Predator. After turning down a writing gig (but accepting a supporting role) in the original movie, he's now co-writing and directing a new movie featuring the alien hunter, and he gave a brief update about it in a new interview with Collider.
I’m working on the script, and barring an act of God, a safe from the sky, there’s nothing that suggests it won’t be the next thing, and I’m getting more and more excited day by day. I mean, there’s great Predator movies, but to actually play with the idea of making it an event, not necessarily in scale—it doesn’t have to be huge—but it just has to feel like a Predator movie you want to see in the summer and line up for it. And that’s what we’re going for. Let’s get back to the excitement and innovation of that original movie where it felt fresh. I just want to find a way to make it feel fresh and that’s what we’re trying to do.
As for whether or not Arnold Schwarzenegger will return to reprise his role of Dutch from the original movie, Black says they haven't discussed it yet:
BLACK: We have not talked about it, which is good because I’m not supposed to talk about it anyway. Not supposed to talk about details of the script. And I shouldn’t.
It won’t get you into trouble.
BLACK: [mock laughter] Haha! Trouble! Who cares! I think it’s something we’re looking into, and as this thing evolves and takes on more of a shape, we’ll figure out how best to honor the tradition of what is really a remarkable first movie and even parts of the rest of them as well.
They are still pretty far away from shooting, so it makes sense that they don't quite know if there's a place in the story for Arnie yet. (I'd put money on him showing up in some capacity, though.)
And finally, Black spoke about the new movie's setting:
Is it using the real time since the first film?
BLACK: This one will be set in present day.
Ah, so there’s a possibility.
BLACK: Yes, it’s set in present day.
So that will be a thirty-one year gap between the original and this film, which could provide some interesting opportunities for storytelling, especially if Dutch is involved. What has he been doing for all this time? Is he gearing up for a war that only he knows is coming? Hopefully we'll find out.
Side note: here's an interesting connection I just made about Black and the recent teaser poster for The Predator that came out a little while back. The tagline on that poster is "You'll Never See Him Coming," which, if you'll remember, was one of the centerpiece lines for Ben Kingsley in the trailers for Iron Man 3, which Black also wrote and directed.
The Predator hits theaters on March 2, 2018.