Director/writer Shane Black has always been clear that his upcoming film, The Predator, will not be ignoring previous entries in the Predator franchise. Beyond his assurances, as well as those of co-writer Fred Dekker, we’ve never really known much about exactly how the film might refer or give a nod to what came before. Would previous events be mentioned? Might we see the return of classic Predator weapons? Perhaps even the appearance of a pre-existing character?
Weapons seem likely and I wouldn’t be surprised if past events are brought up in some quick fashion, but the return of previous characters seemed to die when Arnold Schwarzenegger passed on appearing in the film. This week’s revelation doesn’t change that (so far), but it does offer up a sizable connection to a certain notable character. During an interview with , actor Jake Busey finally opened up about his role in The Predator…
“Shane Black called me and he said ‘Hey, you wanna do this movie? We don’t have money for you but it’ll be a fun thing to come play and be your father’s son.’ And so as much as I have followed in my Dad’s footsteps career-wise, this is like really following in his footsteps by playing a character who is the son of the character he played. And I don’t think there would be any other forum where I would do that. I think this is the one thing.
We shot it up in Vancouver, and they were there doing it for about three or four months, but I was up there for three weeks. I play a scientist in the film, and I’m very excited about it. I think it’s going to be great. If you liked the very first movie a lot, you’ll really like this one. This one has a lot of essence of the first movie.”
Jake Busey’s initial casting made many a Predator fan smile, myself included, but I never actually imagined they’d pull the trigger on having him play the son of Peter Keyes (Gary Busey, pictured above). As a massive Predator 2 fan, this is a nice little treat from Black & Dekker. There’s no denying that John McTiernan’s original film remains the pinnacle of the franchise to date, but I have always remained baffled at the still-chilly reception that Stephen Hopkins’ Predator 2 gets from genre fandom. Since time has changed the time on formerly-lambasted sequels such as Alien 3 and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, here’s hoping that Predator 2 will finally be reappraised as the excellent sequel that it is when folks begin revisiting the series as a lead up to The Predator‘s release.
The Predator is the sixth film in Fox’s on-going Predator franchise. It is directed by Shane Black, from a screenplay by Fred Dekker and Shane Black. The picture is produced by John Davis, Lawrence Gordon, and Joel Silver. The film stars Boyd Holbrook as ‘Quinn McKenna’, Olivia Munn as ‘Casey Beckett’, Trevante Rhodes as ‘Nebraska Williams’, and Jake Busey as ‘Keyes’. Jacob Tremblay, Yvonne Strahovski, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Keegan-Michael Key, Sterling K. Brown, Augusto Aguilera, and Edward James Olmos also appear.
The Predator arrives in theaters on August 3rd, 2018.
