Prey director reflects on how his success could change plans for Prey 2

Years before Dan Trachtenberg had the credibility to make a Predator film, Trachtenberg imagined a scene in which a Comanche warrior faced a hunter with armor made of bone from outer space. That vision panned out into a worthy studio gamble; when Trachtenberg’s Predator The prequel Prey hit Hulu in 2022, it was lauded as a reinvention of a tired franchise and one of the Disney-acquired 20th Century Studios’ first straight-to-streaming hits. Today, Trachtenberg says it’s hard to shake what made the project so special to him — especially with sequel talk aflutter.

“While making the movie, we really enjoyed conjuring up all the special unique things that we could do, not only just in this franchise but also in this genre, that would be unexpected,” he says when I ask about the status of a Prey 2 “Some things happened that are very expected, but some things were very much not. And so all that stuff was and continues to be really fun to think about and explore and… who knows?”

The latest issue of Production Weekly, the trade magazine for industry professionals, has been flagged. Prey 2,As a project currently in development at 20th Century Studios has alien-slasher fans salivating in anticipation. For now, Trachtenberg is playing it cool. The director wasn’t ready to spill any details while promoting Prey’s 4K Blu-ray release, but agrees there’s potential in a sequel, and one that could play in theaters the next time around. This was the intention of the director when he made the first film.

“I think Prey had big-screen potential!” he says. “I never considered PreyYou can also read about how to get started. This is only for streaming. No one ever said, ‘Let’s execute differently because we know it’s for streaming.’ It wasn’t ever in the ether for us.”

Trachtenberg claims that the studio was not at all receptive to his request to move away from the overtly masculine war movie vibe from the 1987 original. Predator. This is due to him emailing the correct people at the appropriate time. Email is still powerful! After the success of 10 Cloverfield LaneTrachtenberg’s elevator pitch was sent to 20th Century Fox executives. Prey, even though the studio was already working with writer-director Shane Black on what would become 2018’s Predator. Trachtenberg believed Fox could do both.

Photo: David Bukach/20th Century Studios

“That’s where the name Prey came from,” he says. “Because I was sure there was going to be a new Predator trilogy, but I thought maybe we called this one PreyStar Wars: The Force Awakens – a similar function [Solo]The following are some examples of how to get started: Rogue One. I said, ‘Could this be a thing?’ — it was that casual. It was just like that. This is just too awesome!”

Fox was ready to work with Trachtenberg on what he was then dubbing “an R-rated Disney Princess movie” until actual Disney came knocking. The Walt Disney Corporation bought the 21st Century Fox parent in 2019 and began work on PreyThe film has all but stopped. Trachtenberg’s reps encouraged him to just take the Predator name out of the script he was writing and go pitch studios an entirely original alien adventure movie. But on a mission to deliver the “unexpected,” he declined; to pack a true surprise, he needed to reframe an iconic monster design and play in a sandbox full of expectations.

Trachtenberg was hopeful that the 20th Century Studios would re-connect with him after all the chaos had subsided. He was right: The revamped studio began to hunt for high-profile but low budget streaming exclusives. PreyThe red light of the crosshairs was back. While Trachtenberg wasn’t able to enact his dream to have the actors speak only in Comanche (a concession Hulu made up for with the film’s Comanche-language dub track), he says everyone at the reorganized studio was on board to make a kick-ass movie that didn’t fret over nostalgia for the franchise. He’s pitching a film that, according to him, cost only half as much. Predator got didn’t hurt either.

“It’s like, would you rather high-five yourself over Blank Thing Part Five, where you’re not even that confident in what the movie is, but you know it’ll make money?” he asks. “Or would you rather high-five over something that not only is more original, but also shining the light on characters and people that the light is not often shined on?”

Trachtenberg, along with his team, set about reinventing the Predator series’ look, story, and design. In fact, the director’s MO to surprise longtime fans extended all the way to a vision for marketing the movie. Trachtenberg filmed the film under a secret code name to conceal the truth that PreyIt is not a PredatorHe knew he would be exposed by Hollywood and that the prequel was a sham. (And they did.) But he still had plan to slow-drip the reveal all the way through to the alien’s entrance in his movie. The guy grew up during the heyday of tentpole trailers that could be dissected, and Internet movie rumors.

“The original concept, keeping in mind the timeline — my hope was that we could have a teaser come out that is just Naru dealing with her band, then she sets out into the wilds to prove herself, then she sees a fire in the sky. That would be all. Then, when 2018 comes around. PredatorThe teaser would be the same, and then 30 seconds would be added. And the coolest version would have been: She’s hunting a bear, attacked by a bear, the bear’s knocked out, then blood drips down and reveals the Predator, and you’re like, This is the Predator film! That would have been my dream.”

That plan didn’t pan out. When you get to the end of your plan, it’s too late. Prey Hulu was the first place that everyone familiar with Predator knew there would be a Predator sequel. Though by anecdotal reports, PreyIt was a first Predator for countless young viewers. But the reception proves Trachtenberg right — a goal of originality and delivering the “unexpected” still works, even in the smaller-screen movie era. He isn’t telling how he’d do the same for Prey 2,, but he’s giddy as he avoids spilling any secrets. If he decides to write a sequel, his goal will remain the same: To shock audiences.

“I’ve heard from people who worked on the movie that there are people who saw it with kids and it was their first R-rated movie,” he says. “That brings a tear to the eye, because that’s that’s how formative [Predator] was for me growing up.”