Shane Black’s Predator Sequel Set To “Reinvent Franchise,” Says Producer
John Davis, producer of 1987′s original ‘Predator’ and still on board for the in-development revival of the franchise with writer-director Shane Black, has heaped praise on the ‘Iron Man 3′ filmmaker’s vision for the much-loved sci-fi action horror series.
Black - who had one of his few acting roles alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1987 movie, as well as doing uncredited work on the script - was announced last year as being attached to a new ‘Predator’ movie, along with his old collaborator Fred Dekker who has been working on the first draft of the screenplay.
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News has been quiet on the matter since, with Black seemingly monopolised by work on other projects including his next film, detective movie ‘The Nice Guys,’ and a Western TV series, but now Davis tells Collider that it’s all shaping up very nicely:
“Shane shot a movie and he’s doing a pilot now, but I’ve read a lot of his script and I think it’s genius. I think it’s genius and I think it’s entertaining, and what it did is recreate a famous franchise in a different, interesting way; looking at it from a different light.
“He’s just an amazing writer-director. He’s got a way of looking at this that makes you excited again.
“Shane’s got a writing partner, Fred Dekker. They’ve been doing it together and Fred’s great. The two of them together, they’ve been in the business for a long time, but the writing is so fresh, the perspective is so fresh.
“I’m telling you you’re going to get something you don’t expect and you’re going to say, ‘This is the most entertaining way to reinvent a franchise.’ I mean he’s the guy who wrote Iron Man 3.”
Black and Dekker (yes, we know) were college buddies at UCLA, and first worked together on another 1987 cult favourite, comedy horror ‘The Monster Squad,’ which Dekker directed.
Initially thought to be a total reboot, it has since been clarified that this new ‘Predator’ will be, in Black’s words, an “inventive sequel,” which gives the material a fresh start without resetting the clock.
Of course, much was the plan with 2010′s ‘Predators,’ and that didn’t wind up reviving the series as it had been hoped to do. Time will tell if Black’s take is stronger; we’d wager it will be.
Of course, just when this ‘Predator’ sequel will get made is unknown, as Black has a number of directorial projects, including pulp novel adaptations ‘Doc Savage’ and ‘The Destroyer’ (the latter previously filmed as ‘Remo Williams’), lined up on his schedule.
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Picture Credit: 20th Century Fox
