New Predator Movie is More Sequel Than Reboot

Just as Sergeant Blain Cooper didn't have time to bleed, neither does Shane Black have the time or interest in walking down reboot road. Yesterday the news broke that writer/director Shane Black had been signed by Fox to make a new Predator movie, with Black's longtime friend Fred Dekker set to write the script. While originally thought to be a reboot, Black recently revealed the movie will instead be built more like a sequel than a straight-up relaunch.

Shane Black shared his thoughts on the new Predator project with Collider, saying that he prefers "inventive sequels" over reboots and that he and Dekker want to dive into and enlarge the "rich mythology" of the previous films. As far as Black and Dekker are concerned, the latest entry into the Predator franchise will not be a reboot, so it will be interesting to see if it will be allowed to stay a sequel throughout the development process and what fresh approaches the two creative minds will take with the material.

Friends from college, Black and Dekker co-wrote the 1987 horror comedy The Monster Squad, a movie that Dekker directed. It seems fitting that Black is directing and overseeing the writing on this Predator reboot, as he played the role of  the bespectacled, wisecracking Rick Hawkins in the 1987 original. John Davis, co-producer of the original Predator, is returning to produce the reboot.

Shane Black has an impressive list of writing and directing credits. He wrote Lethal Weapon (1987), wrote and directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), and co-wrote and directed Iron Man 3 (2013). Dekker wrote and directed the cult horror hit Night of the Creeps (1986) and RoboCop 3 (1993). We’ll keep Daily Dead readers posted on the Predator reboot as it develops.