As production on 20th Century Studios’ Predator 5 aka Skulls is expected to kick-off in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. There seems to be an reunion of sorts on director Dan Trachtenberg’s production team.
10 Cloverfield Lane cinematographer Jeff Cutter has signed-up for the fifth Predator installment as he posted on his Instagram account a location scout in Alberta with Dan. The pair also worked together on the pilot episode of Amazon’s hit mature themed comic book series The Boys.
The last cinematographer to work on the franchise was Larry Fong (300, Kong: Skull Island, Watchmen) on Shane Black’s The Predator.
Disney is now the owners of the Alien and Predator franchises from the merger, it’ll be interesting to see what the new era will look like. While there was talk of Ridley Scott developing another film for 20th Century the next Alien project is a streaming series from Noah Hawley (Legion, Fargo). The next Predator installment will take place within the world of Native American culture and could bring it back to it’s roots of the 1987 original. Unlike the other Predator movies, we’re expected to see a female protagonist and likely will be a nod to the comic book character Machiko Noguchi.
Predator 5 is currently without an official cast or release date.
Disney has had huge success with their family-friendly streaming service Disney+, however, the service is indeed geared towards families and younger audiences which means other Disney-owned content can’t really appear there.
A new report from Collider claims things might be changing soon with sources suggesting that their domestic service Hulu is being prepared to be folded into Disney+, Disney is a majority owner of Hulu and plenty of people have suggested this becoming an option given that Hulu doesn’t have an international presence being a domestic service but could with some help from Disney/Disney+ take the leap into the global realm like Netflix.
Sources say Disney is looking to combine its two streaming services into a single juggernaut.
For more than a year now, there has been speculation that Disney might one day fold Hulu into its Disney+ streaming service, and sure enough, Collider is hearing that multiple Hulu executives have been leaving or let go from the streaming service in anticipation of the move, which makes a lot of sense from a business perspective.
They phrase the report’s headline as a question which could mean this might be more of a rumor circulating among reliable people they’re talking to.
If this officially happens, Disney+ adding Hulu’s content, the 20th Century Studios library and their multiple television offerings from 20th Television/FX would add a massive under served demographic to their international streaming service. Another upside is that Disney might be forced into developing mature content with the Disney branding moving into the 21st Century as the media company will need to attract adult audiences as well and move beyond children’s entertainment.
We’ve already seen this with 20th Century Studios moving forward with Predator 5 and Marvel Studios hiring screenwriters for Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 3, both expected to be R-rated offerings. This could be a way for Disney+ to start making mature shows using their budgets that they’ve used for Star Wars and Marvel series. I’m sure that Alien series that Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion) wanted to make wouldn’t have as much trouble getting the budget it would need to look proper. It also gives a home to franchise films like Die Hard, Alien/Predator franchises, Logan, and Deadpool.
Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video are doing a lot to attract older subscribers with original content which to some extent HBO/HBO Max is doing as well but like Hulu isn’t on the global stage.
Speaking of HBO Max, does this mean Disney announces this and then throws their entire 2021 slate of films on the combined service? We don’t really know if they’re going to mirror HBO Max’s new release model for 2021 and if this happens it could be another ding on the theatrical runs of future films. Alongside their potential to earn the billions at the box office that Disney is accustomed to. Hulu could be placed in an odd spot here and might see massive layoffs as jobs become redundant.
Today marks the 30th anniversary of Predator 2 and director Stephen Hopkins stat down with Scream Magazine for an interview about the film. Hopkins explains how they wanted to originally introduce Arnold’s Dutch in the start of the film and how he ultimately had to chose between making Terminator 2 or making Predator 2.
HOPKINS: “I think we got on okay, in fact, the opening scene of the film was supposed to be these guys playing golf on a golf course and a helicopter lands, and there is a guy with white hair golfing and they come and say ‘he’s back’, and Arnold turns around he’s got white hair and a scar across his face. Him and Danny Glover would have teamed-up.”
“Actually what I think it was that Jim Cameron, who I used to work for, he said to Arnold that he wanted him to do Terminator 2 and he didn’t want to both to happen. He didn’t feel like help Terminator 2 if Predator 2 happened with Arnold in it and Jim was preparing it for a long time. I think Arnold had to make a choice and clearly it was a great choice because Terminator 2 is one of the great science fiction films.”
He also confirms the rumors that Steven Seagal almost joined the film but Hopkins met with him to talk him out of doing it as he wasn’t a fan of the action star.
HOPKINS: “I had to go up to have a meeting with [Seagal] at his house which was one of the most craziest afternoons I’ve had, sort of to talk him out of doing it. He’s an unusual kind of twisted kind of guy and in the end I couldn’t see myself doing it with him, it didn’t feel right.”
“He was desperate to do it. I went up to his house and he crushed my hand [makes handshake motion] and took me into a room where all the walls were covered with guns. He told me about how he wanted to play a C.I.A. psychiatrist, who also is a martial arts expert and carried a gun, I listened to him for a long time and he was clearly a little crazy at the time…then he threw his arm around me on the way out and he said ‘I want you to come to my ranch in Santa Barbara because I have a grenade launching range there so we could go launch grenades together’. That didn’t happen. I’m sorry, I’m not a fan of his.”
Predator 2 is considered one of the better sequels and totally worth revisiting for that fun cast along with some interesting action scenes.
PREDATOR 2 – Los Angeles is enduring a heat wave and a crime wave, so the pressure on police officer Michael Harrigan (Danny Glover) to solve a strange string of murders is mounting. Harrigan thinks the culprit can be found among the warring gangs and drug cartels, but FBI Special Agent Peter Keyes (Gary Busey) knows the horrible truth: Their killer is a fearsome extraterrestrial (Kevin Peter Hall) with keen hunting abilities that include superior night vision and the power to make itself invisible.
Yesterday, it was revealed by Deadline that 20th Century Studios and Disney would be moving forward with a new Predator film loosely being referred to Predator with Dan Trachtenberg (The Boys, Black Mirror, 10 Cloverfield Lane) set to direct. The project was unknowingly revealed by Discussing Film late last year under the working title Skulls and had been kept under the radar thanks to the working title/vague logline throwing people off the scent. This new report from Deadline first revealing it’s ties to the Predator franchise and Disney’s desire to keep things chugging along.
According to Dan on Twitter, they’ve been working on Predator 5 for much longer than a year, closely to four years. He also seemingly suggests they had been planning on quietly making and releasing the film as a surprise. I have to assume hearkening back to how his film 10 Cloverfield Lane was shot as something else and then connected to the Cloverfield franchise.
TRACHTENBERG: “This was meant to be a surprise. Been working on this for almost 4 years now. I am very sad that what we had in store for how you could discover this movie will no longer happen. It’s a bummer. But also…YAY!”
The film is expected to be a period piece focusing on a female Comanche human character. It sounds like a potential Native American proxy to expanded universe character Machiko Noguchi (a Japanese human inducted into a predator tribe) and would mean it could skew more in the western genre but other than that we don’t know too much about the project. It had been established back in Predator 2 that the aliens had been coming to Earth for hundreds of years to hunt and placing this new film in the past could be one way to make a film different enough from the previous four installments.
Maybe we’ll see Julia Jones (The Mandalorian, Westworld, Wind River) in the role?
Fans like myself were bummed-out when we finally got a look at Shane Black’s 2018 film The Predator and it was a giant mess with a bizarre sequel bait ending that landed flat on it’s face. Hopefully, this means that Alien 5/Alien V is seriously being considered after that spec-script tease from franchise screenwriters David Giler and Walter Hill was making the rounds on social media.
Deadline has announced a huge update concerning the future of the Predator franchise as Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) has been hired by 20th Century Studios/Disney to direct an untitled Predator 5 that will have a script from Patrick Aison (Treadstone, Jack Ryan).
The film isn’t expected to be a sequel to Shane Black’s soft-reboot The Predator.
Apparently, Discussing Film caught-wind of the project’s production grid information almost a entire year ago and didn’t make the connection it was part of the Predator franchise as it was under the working title of Skulls (the Predator collects skulls).
…will follow a Comanche woman who goes against gender norms and traditions to become a warrior.
It’s unconfirmed if Skulls’ logline is the official one they’ll actually be using as that information is year old and could have changed since then as films normally do over a year or more of development/script changes. The Predator and Alien franchises always have multiple incarnations in the development stages before the cameras roll on each installment.
However, the crux of Skulls does sound very similar to Machiko Noguchi, a Japanese human character that is inducted into a predator tribe after proving herself worthy.
A new Predator film so soon have the box office disaster of 2018’s The Predator would obviously signal Disney’s commitment to continuing 20th Century Studios’ legacy franchises and might mean that new Alien projects could be next.
They’re already moving forward with a new Planet of The Apes film from director Wes Ball along with a new spec-script for Alien V from franchise screenwriters/executive producers David Giler and Walter Hill.
Yesterday, the Walt Disney Company announced a new initiative to get more content going for its streaming services such as Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu from its sports, television, and film divisions. The new division will be called The Media & Entertainment Distribution group led by Kareem Daniel.
It sounds like they’ll be dedicating a lot more resources and money than they have previously as means to compete with competitors like Netflix and Amazon. However, this announcement says nothing about them throwing their 2021 theatrical slate on Disney+ and never mention a thing about ending theatrical releases altogether only pushing to place more content on their streaming services.
We will get more details on these plans on December 10th.
During an interview with CNBC, Disney’s new CEO Bob Chapek was quick to point out that they aren’t looking to stop the theatrical experience and would be announcing further details.
Also, specifically downplayed COVID-19’s role in the decision.
CHAPEK: “I would not characterize it as a response to Covid. I would say Covid accelerated the rate at which we made this transition, but this transition was going to happen anyway. Because essentially what we want to do is separate out folks who make our wonderful content based on tremendous franchises from the decision making in terms of prioritization is on how it gets commercialized into the marketplace. And what we want to do is leave it to a group of folks you can really see objectively across all of the constituents we have and various considerations we’ve got and make the optimal decision for the company as opposed to having it predetermined that a movie is destined to theaters or that a TV show is destined for ABC. So what we really want to do is provide some level of objectivity and really make it a decision that benefits the overall company and its shareholders.”
When pressed on Disney’s commitment to the theatrical model Bob said the following that gives the impression they’re not giving up on the theatrical model just yet.
CHAPEK: “We’ve benefited from a tremendous relationship with theatrical exhibition for many many many years as dynamics change in the marketplace though we want to make sure that we are giving consumers who want to go to theaters to experience everything that a theatrical release can give them, we want to continue to give them that option but at the same time there are a lot of consumers that want to experience a movie in the safety, comfort, and convenience of their own home for whatever reasons they do.”
To me, it sounds like either they are going to pursue a shorter theatrical window or a mixed model of day-and-date which obviously the theater industry wouldn’t be terribly pleased about on either front.
Here is the official press release from the Walt Disney Company website that gets a little more into the weeds about what all this means.
In light of the tremendous success achieved to date in the Company’s direct-to-consumer business and to further accelerate its DTC strategy, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) today announced a strategic reorganization of its media and entertainment businesses. Under the new structure, Disney’s world-class creative engines will focus on developing and producing original content for the Company’s streaming services, as well as for legacy platforms, while distribution and commercialization activities will be centralized into a single, global Media and Entertainment Distribution organization. The new Media and Entertainment Distribution group will be responsible for all monetization of content—both distribution and ad sales—and will oversee operations of the Company’s streaming services. It will also have sole P&L accountability for Disney’s media and entertainment businesses.
The creation of content will be managed in three distinct groups—Studios, General Entertainment, and Sports—headed by current leaders Alan F. Horn and Alan Bergman, Peter Rice, and James Pitaro. The Media and Entertainment Distribution group will be headed by Kareem Daniel, formerly President, Consumer Products, Games and Publishing. All five leaders will report directly to Bob Chapek, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. Disney Parks, Experiences and Products will continue to operate under its existing structure, led by Josh D’Amaro, Chairman, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, who continues to report to Mr. Chapek. Rebecca Campbell will serve as Chairman, International Operations and Direct-to-Consumer. Bob Iger, in his role as Executive Chairman, will continue to direct the Company’s creative endeavors.
“Given the incredible success of Disney+ and our plans to accelerate our direct-to-consumer business, we are strategically positioning our Company to more effectively support our growth strategy and increase shareholder value,” Mr. Chapek said. “Managing content creation distinct from distribution will allow us to be more effective and nimble in making the content consumers want most, delivered in the way they prefer to consume it. Our creative teams will concentrate on what they do best—making world-class, franchise-based content—while our newly centralized global distribution team will focus on delivering and monetizing that content in the most optimal way across all platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and the coming Star international streaming service.”
Under the new structure, the Company’s three content groups will be responsible and accountable for producing and delivering content for theatrical, linear and streaming, with the primary focus being the Company’s streaming services:
STUDIOS: Messrs. Horn and Bergman will serve as Chairmen, Studios Content, which will focus on creating branded theatrical and episodic content based on the Company’s powerhouse franchises for theatrical exhibition, Disney+ and the Company’s other streaming services. The group will include the content engines of The Walt Disney Studios, including Disney live action and Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures.
GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT: Mr. Rice will serve as Chairman, General Entertainment Content, which will focus on creating general entertainment episodic and original long-form content for the Company’s streaming platforms and its cable and broadcast networks. The group will include the content engines of 20th Television, ABC Signature and Touchstone Television; ABC News; Disney Channels; Freeform; FX; and National Geographic.
SPORTS: Mr. Pitaro will serve as Chairman, ESPN and Sports Content, which will focus on ESPN’s live sports programming, as well as sports news and original and non-scripted sports-related content, for the cable channels, ESPN+, and ABC.
The Media and Entertainment Distribution group, led by Mr. Daniel, will be responsible for the P&L management and all distribution, operations, sales, advertising, data and technology functions worldwide for all of the Company’s content engines, and it will also manage operations of the Company’s streaming services and domestic television networks. The group will work in close collaboration with the content creation teams on programming and marketing.
It’ll be interesting to see if Disney+ will start mining IP from the 20th Century Studios side of things soon as Disney+ series and limited series focused on properties like Avatar and Planet of The Apes could be extremely successful. In the press release they suggest that they could end up making episodic projects based on 20th Century properties.
A live-action Flash Gordon series stands out as a property that Disney really could do justice with on Disney+ and be a counter of sorts to their Star Wars shows as it could be way more swashbuckling than the Lucasfilm property that was inspired by it. Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Thor: Love & Thunder, Jojo Rabbit) is attached to direct an animated Flash Gordon film and at one time 20th Century was developing a live-action feature as well from directors Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, Stardust, Layer Cake) and Julius Avery (Overlord) involved at different points.
I wouldn’t even put it past Disney to reboot John Carter eventually given the Volume/StageCraft would allow them to make a series more cost effective that world like Flash Gordon is different enough from Star Wars it would be worth pursuing.
Of course, this could mean a major influx of more shows from Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar universes but might also see Hulu getting a bump of adult content as well with franchises like Alien (Noah Hawley pitched an Alien series to FX) and Predator just collecting dust while they could be helpful to get more eyeballs on Hulu. HBO Max had recently crowed about Ridley Scott’s sci-fi series Raised By Wolves being the most popular original on their service when announcing they were moving forward with a Season 2 order.
Matthew Vaughn has also been talking up the idea of a Kingsman spinoff series that could fit nicely at Hulu.
Disney certainly has a massive gap in the adult market and places like Canada don’t have access to Hulu and that really needs to change if they want to compete with Netflix/Amazon on an international level as those services offer content to both kids and adults alike. Cornering the kid market just won’t be enough for Disney if they want to grow their streaming presence.
I guess we’ll have to wait for December 10th to get more concrete answers about what all this actually means for content that is already in the can or is about to begin filming.
While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter to promote his new Quibi series The Fugitive, actor Boyd Holbrook reflected on the disappointing audience reaction to The Predator, the fourth film in the solo Predator franchise.
THR: Through no fault of your own, The Predator didn’t go as everyone had planned, but looking back, was it one of those classic Hollywood examples of too many cooks in the kitchen?
HOLBROOK: “I just think the first one [Predator] caught lightning in a bottle. And with people wanting to do more, maybe you should just let a sleeping dog lie, sometimes. That was a big takeaway for me.”
The film having multiple endings to set up sequels, forcing so much awkward comedic moments, and third act reshoots removing some awesome scenes with predators fighting alongside humans. It seems like the script and editing process was a giant mess that is fully on display when you watch the film.
Not to mention the film’s budget-saving setting of a small town that just echoed the horrid Alien vs Predator: Requiem.
Ultimately, it doesn’t look like 20th Century Studios/Disney is considering sequels or new installments anytime soon.
THE RONIN 