AtSan Diego Comic-Con,Predator: Badlandsdirector Dan Trachtenberg addresses his movie’s Weyland-Yutani android and the possibility of making anewAlien vs. Predatormovie. Both thePredatorandAlienfranchises have been going on for decades now, and famously had a crossover withAlien vs. Predator. The 2004 movie wasdirected by Paul W.S. Anderson. It was followed by aRequiemsequel, but the attempts have failed to impress critics.
Since, however,Trachtenberg has become a key filmmaking figure behind the modernPredatorfranchise.His tenure started with the prequel filmPrey, which was well-received upon its 2022 release. The success continued withPredator: Killer of Killersand is set to helmPredator: Badlands, which releases this fall.
At an SDCC panel to speak aboutBadlands, attended bySR’s Brandon Zachary, Trachtenberg discussed the challenges of making a newAlien vs. Predatormovie. The director explained that it ishard to do such a crossover without feeling the “seduction to grab all the action figures and smush them together,“but that including one ofAlien’s androids felt right for this project:
The next stop was like okay, Predator and a Robot. It will be a really human story, but its about a predator and a robot, creature and a robot. And then I thought, I know someone who makes robots. And so that was the Weyland-Yutani of it all.
And that of course leads to even more cool ideas, but I think sometimes people that are dabbling in cinematic universes, there’s a seduction to grab all the action figures and smush them together. And I really didn’t want to do that, and I wanted to make sure that if we ever did something, it would be a little bit more elegant.
This wasnot Trachtenberg saying that anotherAlien vs. Predatormovie is out of the question.In fact, when asked whether he would direct a potential crossover, the director responded:
“Wouldn’t it be cool? Wouldn’t it be cool.”
What This Means For The Alien Franchise
The Alien vs. Predator Series Hasn’t Been So Great, But There’s Hope
The track record for theAlien vs. Predatorseries isn’t so great. The 2004 installment was able to reach a 21% Tomatometer, while the 2007 sequel fared even worse with just 12%. While both performed well enough to achieve profitability, they didn’t reach the scale of their respective franchises.Alien vs. Predatormade $177.4 million worldwide against a $60 million budget,whileRequiemcollected $130 million against a smaller $40 million budget.
Plans to continue with the crossover were paused,and each franchise continued with its standalone movies. However, both franchises endured hiccups with the mixed receptions ofPrometheus,Alien: Covenant, and 2018’sThe Predator. While it seemed that neither was able to reach the heights of yesteryear, that’s changed in just the last five years.
AlongsidePreyandPredator: Killer of Killersrejuvenating the franchise, Fede Álvarez’sAlien: Romulusalso reawakened Ridley Scott’s beloved sci-fi classic. Hence, it makes sense that the demand for the crossover has gone up, given the new visions for each franchise.
Our Take On Another Alien Vs. Predator
Now Is The Right Time For It
Making anAlien vs Predatorwill be quite a task since it’s hard to crack the concept with the right story and characters. Hence, it makes sense why there could be any hesitancy from directors like Trachtenberg, who acknowledge where the issues may lie. Even then, it’s easier said than done, which only makes the crossover such a high-risk project.
That said, now is a better time than ever to tryAlien vs. Predator. Through well-received recent entries, includingAlien: RomulusandPredator: Killer of Killers, theAlienandPredatormovies have won back audiences' hearts after a years-long slump. IfPredator: Badlandsdoes as well as it has the potential to, Trachtenberg may see anAlien vs. Predatoroffer coming his way.
