Predator: Badlands marks the latest chapter in the long-running Predator franchise, once again helmed by Dan Trachtenberg, whose credits include 10 Cloverfield Lane, Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers.
Following the success of his 2022 hit Prey, Trachtenberg’s latest entry takes fans to a whole new corner of the universe, focusing on an outcast Yautja named Dek and a Weyland-Yutani synth named Thia. Despite the massive production and alien world-building, the cast says the experience felt surprisingly intimate. Set farther in the future than any Predator or Alien installment, Predator: Badlands opens with Dek locked in a brutal fight with his brother Kwei, battling for his place in their clan. His father, an unforgiving warlord, would rather see Dek dead than beside him in combat.
But when Kwei helps Dek escape to the dangerous planet Genna, the young Yautja sets out to hunt a Kalisk, a monstrous creature said to be the galaxy’s deadliest predator. With the story centered on Yautja characters, Trachtenberg worked with voice actor and linguist Britton Watkins to create a full alien language for the film. The director’s insistence on authenticity led to one of the production’s most memorable on-set challenges.