Predators (film)

Plot

Royce awakens to find himself parachuting into an unfamiliar jungle. He meets several others who arrived in the same manner: Mexican drug cartel enforcer Cuchillo, Spetsnaz soldier Nikolai, Israel Defense Forces sniper Isabelle, Revolutionary United Front officer Mombasa, San Quentin death row inmate Stans, Yakuza enforcer Hanzo and general practice doctor Edwin.

Upon landing, they discover that all are armed and lethal killers, with the apparent exception of Edwin, though none know where they are or how they got there. The group follows Royce, who Isabelle suspects is a former black operations soldier turned mercenary. In the jungle they find empty cages, plants with a neurotoxic poison that Edwin collects on a scalpel, and a deceased US Special Forces soldier. Arriving at higher ground, they find themselves staring at an alien sky and realize that they are not on Earth.

The party is attacked by a pack of quadruped alien beasts. Cuchillo is killed, and his body is then used as bait to lure the survivors into a trap, but they avoid it. Royce deduces they are on a planet used as a game preserve, where humans are hunted as game. The group follows the quadrupeds' tracks to a camp and finds a captive Predator. The "hunters", three larger Predators known as the Tracker, Berserker and Falconer, attack the group. Mombasa is killed and the rest of the group escapes. Royce confronts Isabelle, believing she knows something about the creatures based on her shock of recognition when they encountered the alien. She reveals that she has heard of the Predators before, from a report by the only survivor (Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer) of a Special Forces team who encountered one twenty three years earlier in Guatemala.

The group next meets Noland, a lone soldier who has survived on the planet for "ten seasons" by hiding and scavenging from the Predators and their victims. At his hideout, he explains that the Predators hunt in threes and sharpen their killing skills by abducting warriors and dangerous beasts from other worlds and bringing them to the planet to hunt. Noland also reveals that there is a blood feud between the larger Predators and the smaller ones. Royce hopes that if the group can free the smaller Predator being held prisoner in the encampment, it may take them home using the other Predators' spaceship.

When the group fall asleep, Noland traps them in a room and attempts to use smoke to suffocate them. Having gone mad, he plans to kill them for their equipment and supplies. Royce uses an explosive to break out of the room, attracting the Predators to the hideout. Noland tries to escape and is killed by a Predator. In the ensuing chase, Nikolai uses two claymores to kill The Tracker Predator, sacrificing himself. Stans savagely attacks leader known as the Berserker with his shiv, buying time for the others to escape, and is killed when the Predator rips out his skull and spine. Hanzo duels The Falconer Predator with a katana, killing it before falling down from his wounds.

Hoping they can commandeer a spacecraft to return them to Earth, Royce, Isabelle and Edwin head for the Predators' camp until Edwin is injured by a trap. When Isabelle refuses to abandon him, Royce leaves them both behind and they are caught by the Berserker. Royce frees the smaller Predator in exchange for control of its ship and leaves as the two Predators confront each other. The Berserker kills the smaller one and destroys the ship as it takes off. Meanwhile, Edwin paralyzes Isabelle with the neurotoxic poison on his scalpel and reveals that on Earth he was a murderer, and feels that he fits in on this planet among the monsters. Royce appears, never having boarded the ship, and stabs Edwin with his own scalpel, paralyzing him.

Royce booby-traps Edwin with grenades, using him as bait to injure the remaining Predator. While Isabelle covers him with her sniper rifle, he proceeds to fight the Berserker with an axe and eventually decapitates it. As Royce and Isabelle rest, they observe parachutes opening in the distant sky. Royce, surmising that more Predators will soon arrive to hunt the new prey, tells Isabelle they must find another way to get off the planet, and they make their way back towards the jungle.

Cast

The four Predators in the film are portrayed by Derek Mears, Carey Jones, and Brian Steele. The Predators are identified in the film's credits as the "Classic Predator", "Tracker Predator", "Falconer Predator", and "Berserker Predator". Mears plays the Classic Predator, designed to resemble the creature in the original Predator film. Steele plays the Berserker and Falconer Predators, two of the larger Predators hunting the humans. The Berserker Predator is identified by an alien mandible attached to its helmet and faces off against Royce in the film's climax, while the Falconer Predator controls a flying reconnaissance drone and is killed by Hanzo. Jones plays the Tracker Predator, identified by a pair of tusks attached to its helmet, which controls the quadrupedal hunting animals and is killed by Nikolai. Jones also doubled for Steele in some scenes as the Berserker and Falconer Predators.

Development

The film was produced by Robert Rodriguez, and written by Alex Litvak and Michael Finch. In 1994, Rodriguez wrote an early script for the film for 20th Century Fox while he was working on Desperado. Rodriguez presented the script to the studio, but was denied when they realized that the budget would be too large. Fifteen years later, the studio decided to go with his script. Rodriguez stated:

It's the story from that script I had written way back then. They had hired me to write a Predator story while I was waiting to do Desperado back in 1995. It was crazy, this thing I came up with. So then fast-forward to now and, like, six months ago, they found the script and called me up. 'Hey, we want to redo this franchise and we found your old script. This is where we should have gone with the series! We want to move forward.' And that's what we're doing.

In 2009, 20th Century Fox studio executive, Alex Young, called Rodriguez to consider using his treatment to revive the individual Predator franchise. The film was produced at Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios as opposed to 20th Century Fox so that Rodriguez had more creative control over the film. It was originally thought that Rodriguez would direct, but on July 1, 2009, Nimród Antal was officially signed on to direct.

Rodriguez and Antal have expressed that they wanted this film to be a sequel only to the original Predator (while not necessarily discounting Predator 2), as the film is trying to distance itself from the two Alien vs. Predator films. Antal stated the reasoning behind the decision to dismiss the Alien vs Predator films was that he wanted the film to be closer in tone to the original Predator film, as the AVP films had taken the Predator series in a too outlandish direction.

Casting

At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International Rodriguez stated that Predators would feature an ensemble cast, and that the most important element of the film would be "great characters so that the audience feels they're going on this journey with them". He also noted that the title had a double meaning, referring not only to the extraterrestrial hunters but also to the human characters, all of whom are dangerous killers. He and Antal wanted each of the characters to be well-developed enough to be able to stand alone. Rodriguez hoped to have Arnold Schwarzenegger play a cameo role as Dutch, his character from the original Predator film, but this ultimately did not happen.

Filming

The film was shot on a 53-day schedule. Exterior filming location was mostly set in Kolekole, Hawaii. Filming started on September 28, 2009. The film wrapped up its 22-day shoot on the Hawaii location on November 1, 2009. The film shot its interior set scenes at Robert Rodriguez's studio in Austin, Texas. 60% of the film was shot in Texas in order to be eligible for a tax benefit. The film shot more exterior footage at Canyon Lake Gorge in Comal County.

It was a blast. It was an amazing experience. We were in the tropical rainforests of Hawaii stomping through the mud and getting rained on all day and then we ended up finishing in Austin, Texas. I really think this movie is going to be good. They had cut together a trailer while we were still working and it looked amazing. It's a great cast and along with the action elements and the sci-fi elements, and with Robert Rodriguez being involved, I think it's going to push it to another level

Special effects

Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis, head of special effects studio Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc (ADI), who previously worked on 2004's Alien vs. Predator and 2007's Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem did not return for the creature design of Predators, nor did Stan Winston Studios. Instead, KNB EFX's Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero took over building the creature suits. Berger, who worked with Winston on the original Predator, stated that the studio is reprising the original Stan Winston design of the Predator in the film, saying "We wanted to have the Predator look as it did in the original film. We went back and looked at the original ... everyone's going to be very happy that we've been very faithful to the Stan Winston designs." In addition to the original Predator designs, the film features many new creatures never before seen in a Predator film, such as a new breed of Predators that belong to a different tribe, alien creatures that have been domesticated by the Predators for use in hunting, and other alien creatures that have been brought to the planet by the Predators to be used as prey.

There had been speculation that original Predator composer Alan Silvestri would return to do the score, but on February 26, 2010, it was announced that John Debney, who worked with Rodriguez on such films as Spy Kids and Sin City, would compose the original score for the film.

Rodriguez shared his thoughts on how the score should play out saying:

I think we're going to go for something that fits the tone of the movie really well. That original score went great with the movie, but the notes and the music do really evoke a quality – you know, when he (Debney) showed me his rough cut, or some scenes, every once in a while at the right moment I started hearing strings from the score – because we had a temp score, and it really works.... So we'll probably incorporate some of that. At the right time, because you don't want to overuse it. But it's like the James Bond theme – you can't use it all of the time, but when you do, you can get the audience really, really pumped.

Debney recorded many custom sounds and instruments, including Tibetan long horns to create squeals and screams. He also manipulated metal scrapes and ethnic percussion to further highlight the advanced yet brutal and primitive quality of the Predators and their world. Debney also put up a sneak-peek of one of the Predators scoring sessions. La-La Land Records released the original score for the film on August 10, 2010. The song "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard plays during the credits; it was also used in the original Predator film.

Release

It was announced on March 3, 2010, that Robert Rodriguez and Nimród Antal would reveal a "first look" at Predators at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas on March 12, at 10:15pm. Rodriguez expressed his excitement about the event, saying, "My director Nimród Antal and I are excited to bring this first look at Predators to Austin's SXSW Film Festival, an event that's become vital to the filmmaking scene. Austin is my home and I'm proud that Predators was conceived and filmed here."

Box office

Released on July 9, 2010, in the United States, Predators opened with $10 million on Friday. The film came in at #3 at the US box office and pulled in $24.7m during its first weekend, behind Despicable Me and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. The film was released internationally on July 8, 2010 and had its biggest success in the markets of the UK and Ireland with $6.8m and Japan with $6.3m. The film has grossed $52,000,688 in the United States and $75,233,701 internationally, generating $127,234,389 worldwide.

Critical reception

Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 64% based on 187 reviews, with an average score of 5.8/10. The site's critical consensus is: "After a string of subpar sequels, this bloody, action-packed reboot takes the Predator franchise back to its testosterone-fueled roots." Another review aggregation website Metacritic gave the film a score of 51 out of 100 indicating mixed reviews, based on 30 reviews from selected mainstream critics.

A. O. Scott of The New York Times said that, "Antal is a good enough action director that some of the combat is pretty exciting." On the other hand, Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune wrote that, "When the story relocates to the Fishburne character's grimy, claustrophobic domicile, the movie turns static. The filmmakers may have been going for an Alien industrial-grunge vibe, but the tension just isn't sufficient."

The primary complaint leveled against the film is the failure, as film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times described, of the cast to capture the "quiet suspense" of the original Predator film. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly complained that the film's characters were more like "cardboard clichés lining up for the body count" than real action heroes.

Lou Lumenick of the New York Post gave the film a positive review by stating that, "After 23 years and three attempts, Predators finally delivers a solid sequel to the Arnold Schwarzenegger B-movie classic." He also added that, "It's not exactly hard to predict who the survivors will be at the end of Predators, but it's a fun ride."

Merchandise

A four issue tie-in Predators comic book by Dark Horse Comics was released on June 9 to promote the release of the film. The comic series will serve as a prequel, adaptation, and sequel to the events depicted in the film. The comics show more back story of the characters Royce and Isabelle than is depicted in the film. One such comic follows a team of Navy SEALs in the midst of a firefight when suddenly they awaken to find themselves in a new and more deadly environment being stalked by a strange enemy. One by one these special-ops officers are killed by the unseen threat, until only one man remains.

On July 9, 2010, NECA released the Classic Predator, Falconer Predator, and Berserker Predator action figures. NECA released a second series of figures in December 2010, consisting of a masked Classic Predator, an unmasked Berserker Predator, and the Tracker Predator. The Predator hound was released in March 2011. Hot Toys and Sideshow Collectibles have also created props, maquettes and figures for the film.

Downloadable games publisher Chillingo has secured a licensing agreement with Fox Digital Entertainment to publish the official Predators video game for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad through Apple's App Store and for Mac through Apple's Mac App Store . The game was developed by independent game developer Angry Mob Games and was available in time for the film's theatrical release.

Home media

Predators was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats on October 19, 2010. Both releases include commentary tracks by Robert Rodriguez and Nimród Antal, motion comics, and behind-the-scenes-features. The Blu-ray edition includes additional behind-the-scenes features as well as deleted and extended scenes.

Sequel

Nimród Antal has talked about a sequel and said he would love to do one. Rodriguez has said that he has interest in a sequel because of the large number of potential ideas the Predator planet setting provides:

There are so many great ideas... Just following Laurence Fishburne's character (Noland) around in a prequel would be a great movie. Just the tales he tells in this movie alone, I want to see those experiences... That's why I wasn't precious even about the original script I had, because once you come up with the idea of a Predator Planet, that Predators use as their hunting grounds and humans are involved somehow, the story ideas that you can come up with are so numerous that you can come up with any approach. So we already have several ideas that we can go with for a sequel. They would all be good ideas but we would probably put them together to see which one rises to the top, if we made another one.

In 2010, Rodriguez confirmed that there would be a Predators sequel:

"[The studio] said, 'Let's do some other ones. What other story ideas do you have?'" says the filmmaker. "Because it was like, let's test out the market with this one. They really wanted it to be pretty contained, pretty scaled-back. They didn't want to put too many of the ideas into it that we could save for a second one. So we could see what the appetite was, because the bigger movie would actually be what comes following that. That kind of sets up a new storyline, new location and world, and then you can really go crazy from there."

Adrien Brody also spoke about reprising his role in a possible sequel:

"I think a lot of that is determined by the success of the film. And I don't think that far ahead. The idea of reprising the role and going farther into that character is interesting to me… It would be exciting to watch a character progress or deteriorate. That's exciting for an actor. I thoroughly enjoyed playing Royce. Again, part of the attraction is I'm oddly drawn to material that affects me on an emotional level, and characters that are dealing with things that are challenging that I would question, that I'm not so familiar with. Royce has his emotional arc in this that most of the characters I've played don't come close to possessing. That's an interesting thing to cultivate."

In June 2014, Fox announced plans for a new movie in the franchise with Shane Black writing and directing, Fred Dekker writing and John Davis producing. At the time, Black said the film would not be a reboot. In August 2015, Davis said the film would "reinvent the franchise." In November 2016, Black indicated the film would acknowledge the events of Predator and Predator 2, but would not be a direct sequel to Predators. Instead, it will be set between the last two previous installments.