The rights to Predator might be on the chopping block.
A report from The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Disney’s hold on the franchise copyright expires this Saturday, allowing the original screenwriters Jim and John Thomas to attempt to activate the copyright termination provision allowing the brothers to recapture the rights from Disney via their original script, titled Hunters. Something similar has been happening with the Friday The 13th franchise, they’ll also be represented by Marc Toberoff.
20th Century Studios (now owned by Disney) had been planning on shooting Predator 5 aka Skulls this summer in Calgary with director Dan Trachtenberg, it’s unknown what this could mean for this upcoming project and if the Thomas Brothers will be entitled to a piece of the box office.
There are six feature films with the iconic alien hunter such as Predator, Predator 2, Predators, The Predator, Alien vs. Predator, and Alien vs. Predator: Requiem.
The Predator franchise has been extremely lucrative for 20th Century as it’s spawned decades worth of comic books, novels, video games, multiple toys lines, t-shirts, and other merchandise since the release in 1987. I don’t see Disney giving up the franchise without a fight or attempting to buy them out.
PREDATOR – Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a soldier of fortune, is hired by the U.S. government to secretly rescue a group of politicians trapped in Guatemala. But when Dutch and his team, which includes weapons expert Blain (Jesse Ventura) and CIA agent George (Carl Weathers), land in Central America, something is gravely wrong. After finding a string of dead bodies, the crew discovers they are being hunted by a brutal creature with superhuman strength and the ability to disappear into its surroundings.
SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
THE RONIN 