Earlier this week, it was revealed that Disney had pulled Marvel Studios' "Blade" from its release schedule and replaced it with "Predator: Badlands", which will now take its place in cinemas on November 7th 2025.
The upcoming movie stars Elle Fanning and is being directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who was the director of "Prey", which was the last instalment in the franchise, which was released exclusively on Hulu and Disney+ in 2022. The reaction to that film has resulted in Disney shifting its plans for "Badlands", which isn't a direct sequel, but will continue the adventures of the mysterious breed of alien hunters.
During a recent interview with 20th Century Studios executive, Steve Asbell, it was revealed that we are also going to be getting another "Predator" project released in 2025.
Yes, a Predator movie will have a theatrical. I'll tell you very simply. After Prey became a success, Dan [Trachtenberg] came back and said he didn't want to do Prey 2. And we're like, "What do you want to do?" And he rattled off a bunch of ideas that were really crazy but really cool. We've actually done two of them. Two are coming out next year. One I can't talk about yet, but the other one is the live-action Predator film with Elle Fanning that just wrapped in New Zealand. That'll be out theatrically sometime next year.
This interview was conducted prior to the announcement of "Predator: Badlands" replacing "Blade" and Steve confirmed the news:
It's titled Badlands and it is an absolutely bonkers idea. It is a sci-fi thing, but it's not what everybody thinks it is. And I mean, it's awesome. It is so nuts. But in Dan, we trust.
With regards to this mysterious "Predator" film, Steve just teased fans, confirming that Dan has actually directed that film as well.
There's a second Predator movie that we have different plans for. Dan has actually directed both. There's a secret Predator movie that will come out before the theatrical one but I can't say anything about yet.
Roger's Take: The fact that Steve says explicitly that the "Secret" Predator movie won't be released theatrically would likely suggest it's coming straight to Hulu and Disney+. Could it just be a short film? An extended cut of "Prey" or something completely different? It's very intriguing, and as a fan of this franchise since the original, I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes!
The previous "Predator" films are available to stream on Hulu and Hulu On Disney+ in the United States and on Disney+ internationally.
What do you think this secret "Predator" film will be? Let me know on social media!