SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Play Dirty. If you have not yet seen the film, proceed at your own risk!

If you’re a Shane Black fan, you know that the guy really loves his characters and, by extension, doesn’t like killing them off. From Samuel L. Jackson’s Mitch Henessey in the eternally underrated The Long Kiss Goodnight to Val Kilmer’s Gay Perry in the exceptional Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, he has an established history of saving his heroes at the last minute from what seems like certain death. That being said, it’s because of that history that the dark twist at the end of his new movie Play Dirty hits especially hard.

In the third act of the crime film (now available to all with an Amazon Prime subscription), our protagonists, led by Mark Wahlberg’s Parker, claim victory over a corrupt government and The Outfit… but there is still one job left to be done. Parker remains committed to getting revenge for the widow of his best friend, and while Rosa Salazar’s Zen proves to be a talented partner in a heist, that doesn’t make up for her treacherous actions. It’s a shock when we as an audience come to understand that he can’t let her live, but when I spoke with Shane Black virtual earlier this month during the Play Dirty press day, he explained why the dark note was wholly necessary:

As acknowledged by Shane Black, the principal vibe of Play Dirty is fun: the characters are both witty and smart, and it’s a joy to watch them do what they do best, fail, improvise in response to failure, and try again. But the writer/director made the movie because he’s long had a passion for the source material, and it would have been a betrayal to the nature of Parker’s character if he ended the movie choosing to let bygones be bygones and let Zen off the hook.

It still feels like an exceptionally dark twist, if not especially because Rosa Salazar is loaded with charisma and as fun to see work as any other member of the talented ensemble. But as Black notes, it’s clear why Parker has to do what he does.

That being said, the film doesn’t relish in the darkness. We don’t even actually get to see Parker complete his vengeance on behalf of Thomas Jane’s Philly Webb and Gretchen Mol’s Grace. When the last scene between Parker and Zen is coming to a close, the camera takes us out of her hotel room so that we don’t have to witness the gunshot (though we do hear it). Black, seated alongside producer Jules Daly, acknowledged that Zen’s death is not something that we either have to see or want to see, saying,

It’s a tough goodbye, but it’s handled with grace, and it firmly fits Play Dirty into the decades long legacy of Parker on screen.

Not being one to celebrate Christmas in its typical context, I have an annual tradition of celebrating Shane Black Christmas. Since breaking out in Hollywood in the mid-1980s selling his script for Lethal Weapon, Black has made a habit of setting his action movies during the holiday season – understanding that the specific setting has its own kind of heightened atmosphere – and it’s been a special spice used in the majority of his work. He added it to screenplays through the 1990s (including The Last Boy Scout and The Long Kiss Goodnight), and he kept it going when he moved into the director’s chair to make Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3 (I’ll add that I include The Nice Guys in the marathon too given its final scene set in late December).

It should probably go without saying at this point that this is an incredibly specific genre that I am always happy to see get expanded – and this year, proverbial Christmas has come early with Play Dirty: Shane Black’s stab at bringing Donald E. Westlake’s a.k.a. Richard Stark’s legendary thief Parker back to the screen. And while it’s not the equivalent of getting everything on my holiday wish list thanks to overcooked plotting, it successfully satisfies thanks to Black’s signature attitude and snappy dialogue paired with a talented ensemble cast that is very game for the sharp-edged adventure.

Dropping us into a lived-in world that expands on the conflicted dynamic between the independent rogue Parker (Mark Wahlberg) and the dangerous, New York crime syndicate known as The Outfit, the film begins as the protagonist successfully pulls off a successful, big payday job only to be betrayed by a member of the crew (I won’t say who here in order to maintain the surprise). Barely surviving the treachery and promising revenge to the widow of a fallen friend, he goes after the traitor only to get roped into a far bigger operation with far greater riches up for grabs.

After a South American dictator lays claim to a sunken treasure thought lost for centuries, a conspiracy is orchestrated that will see him line his own pockets and leave his people with nothing, but revolutionaries hatch a plan to take the treasure before it can be “stolen” and privately sold. Parker has both the skills and the crew (LaKeith Stanfield, Keegan-Michael Key, Clair Loverling, Chai Hansen) to help pull off the job – but being a part of the operation means breaking a deal with Lozini (Tony Shalhoub), the head of The Outfit, to stay out of his city.

Play Dirty's script struggles to workaround movie-goers' familiarity with the heist genre, and it tries to do too much.

Shane Black loves a twisty mystery, from the false flag operation in The Long Kiss Goodnight to the Hollywood murder plot in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang to the auto industry corruption in The Nice Guys, but what’s he has cooked up in Play Dirty with co-writers Charles Mondry and Anthony Bagarozzi bites off more than it can properly chew and feels overdone as a result. One senses the filmmakers’ efforts to subvert audience expectations formed from decades and decades of heist movies – but instead of zagging in the places where you think it’s going to zig, the strategy instead is more about piling extra twists on top of one another, and it makes an unsteady stack.

Adding insult to injury, it’s still not terribly hard to see some of its bigger surprises coming.

There is a great mix of massive action set pieces and fun, dark bits.

Play Dirty doesn’t quite subvert the genre as much as you’d want from a filmmaker as talented as Shane Black, but what he has definitely not lost his knack for are exciting and fun set pieces that frequently toss in elements of the weird and unexpected to keep things fresh. The movie hits you with this special flavor right from the start – with a robbery interrupted by an opportunist that devolves into a car chase that interrupts a horse race – and those fun ideas keep flowing and hitting even as the plotting teeters. There is an entertaining flow of clever that keeps the film afloat throughout in both big and small ways, from a plan to purposefully crash a train full of garbage to a gag where a man on fire tries to douse himself in a pool of what turns out to be electrified water.

Shane Black's ear for dialogue is as sharp as ever.

Of course, another classic Shane Black-ism is the amazing buddy dynamic that is his bread-and-butter. Being an ensemble-driven narrative and Parker being the independent soul that he is, the movie doesn’t make any overt efforts to carve out that kind of relationship in the cast, but there is plenty of sparking energy created in standout scenes and some wonderful personalities – each of whom work magic with the script's crackling back-and-forths and bon mots.

Mark Wahlberg and Rosa Salazar have a great combative dynamism, the latter playing a freedom fighter who enlists Parker’s help but, despite her best efforts, can’t earn his trust. LaKeith Stanfield is a standout as Grofield, a thespian who operates as a criminal to fund his anti-audience theater efforts, and while Chai Hansen’s Stan is so incredibly dumb and incompetent that he makes a questionable addition to the heist team, his behavior yields some of the film’s funniest moments.

Within the Shane Black Christmas canon, Play Dirty doesn’t represent the filmmaker at the height of his powers, but it is him working square within his wheelhouse (Black and Westlake/Stark is a perfect match) and generating entertaining results. It’s a movie that would have benefited from a little bit more creative energy put towards upending the familiar of heist movies, but it settles for being a solid entry for the genre.

Marvel Studios broke the Internet in the summer of 2024 when it was revealed that Robert Downey Jr. would play Doctor Doom in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. Since then, the former Tony Stark portrayer’s take on the iconic bad guy has been teased on multiple occasions. Some of Downey’s former collaborators – including a number of actors – have since reacted to the Oscar winner’s latest superhero movie gig. Iron Man 3 director Shane Black is one of the latest to weigh in on the Doom news, and he made a big claim as well.

Shane Black likes to subvert expectations when it comes to certain genres, and he certainly does that with Iron Man 3, which puts more emphasis on Tony Stark as opposed to his armored alter ego. More than a decade after the release of that 2013 threequel, Black and RDJ have teamed up for the action thriller Play Dirty. While promoting the film, Black spoke to ComicBook and was asked for his take on Downey playing Doom. Not only does Black think it’s good for Marvel, but he thinks superhero movies as a whole will benefit:

That’s a major declaration the Predator helmer makes, to say the least. I mean, it’s fair to say Robert Downey Jr.’s turn as Doom could really shake up dynamics within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, the notion of it having ramifications on upcoming superhero movies is quite a notion. I’m not saying I disagree with Shane Black here and, in fact, I admire his confidence and optimism. Also, to be fair, if any actor has the potential to “singlehandedly invigorate” a genre, it’s Downey.

Over the past year or so, there have been a bevy of fun Doctor Doom casting reactions from various MCU alums. Captain America icon Chris Evans responded positively to his longtime co-star’s new role, even using a funny pizza analogy to describe his feelings. Loki star Tom Hiddleston was surprised by RDJ’s casting, as he learned about it when the world at large did. Still, Hiddleston found the casting to be “remarkable” and “absolutely extraordinary.” Late Doom actor Julian McMahon also expressed approval ahead of his death earlier this year.

As for Robert Downey Jr. himself, he’s revealed the story behind being cast as Doom. Downey explained that his casting began in earnest with a conversation with Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige, during which the actor was asking about how he could assist with Disney’s “location-based” entertainment. After Feige pitched the notion of him playing Victor von Doom, Downey asked if they could meet with Disney CEO Bob Iger, who approved of the idea.

Details on Doctor Doom’s MCU debut remain scarce, though it sounds like Downey is bringing his A-game. Doomsday directors Joe and Anthony Russo revealed that crafting the MCU villain had been a “very intense” process, though they also said Downey had been totally “dialed in” to getting it right. Should the star knock the character out of the park, maybe it could elevate the film, and it’ll have the ripple effects Shane Black believes it will.

Check out Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom when Avengers: Doomsday opens in theaters on December 18, 2026. In the meantime, stream Downey’s previous MCU performances by streaming them with a Disney+ subscription.

Tis the season for folks out there to watch their favorite Holiday movies. But there are some which are debated as Christmas flicks, including Die Hard, Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, and the third Iron Man flick. The latter movie was helmed by Shane Black, and is framed by the holiday season. And Iron Man 3’s director recently explained how it became a Christmas movie, and why it ultimately worked for the MCU’s first threequel.

Iron Man 3 hit theaters back in 2013, and was the seventh overall movie in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. In it we see Tony Stark lose everything, including his armory of Iron Man suits. Shane Black recently spoke to Empire about the movie’s connection to Christmas, and revealed that he actually wasn’t always on board for that setting for the movie. As he put it,

Some points were made. While Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark is known for having a giant ego, he was definitely humbled throughout the course of Iron Man 3’s 131-minute runtime. And it took him being pretty much powerless in mid-America to make that happen. Cue the entrance of Harley Keener, who would end up reappearing at Tony’s funeral in Endgame. 

Iron Man 3 doesn’t exactly scream A Christmas Carol to moviegoers, given the very different circumstances between Tony Stark and Ebenezer Scrooge. But they are both insanely rich protagonists who learn a hard lesson during the Holiday Season. During that same interview, Shane Black offered more connective tissue that shows the Christmas connection to his MCU blockbuster, saying:

Do you hear that sound? It’s countless Marvel fans booting up Disney+ to give Iron Man 3 a rewatch before Christmas. Shane Black makes some serious points, revealing why some moviegoers might be giving the threequel a play annually in December. 

Since Iron Man 3, a few other Marvel projects have incorporated the Christmas season. Hawkeye is one prime example, with the final battle even happening at Rockefeller Center. Then there’s this year’s Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which revealed that Mantis is actually Star-Lord’s half-sister.

The next installment in the MCU is Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, which hits theaters on February 17th. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next trip to the theater. We’ll just have to wait and see if we get more Holiday themed content, possibly from the Guardians of the Galaxy. 

Spoilers ahead for Monday night’s 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 2, Episode 11 “Slow Burn.”

Monday night’s episode of Fox’s 9-1-1: Lone Star was a total family affair for one of the stars. While star Rob Lowe was busy in front of the camera trying to catch a serial arsonist as the always dependable Owen Strand, his brother was making magic happen from behind the camera, while his son was the writer who put the story to the page.

For those who may have missed the memo, star Rob Lowe and the episode's director Chad Lowe are indeed brothers, with the latter having made his name as an actor for years before partially shifting to directorial work on a variety of TV projects over the past 21 years. Meanwhile, the Lone Star lead also works with his son John Owen Lowe quite often, as he’s on the writing staff for the first responder sequel series. After all three Lowes came together for the latest episode of 9-1-1: Lone Star, titled "Slow Burn," and the show’s star talked to Entertainment Weekly about experience with some disbelief intact.

Working with his son is something that Rob Lowe will presumably always hold close to his heart. As a parent, you only want what’s best for your child and for them to be successful in life, so for Lowe’s son writing on the same major network series that Lowe stars in is something he could only dream about. Plus, he probably doesn't have to worry about either his brother or his son calling him to bum money.

Even beyond that, Rob Lowe is pumped that both John Owen and Chad Lowe have shared in the experience of working with the all-star cast and crew that bring 9-1-1: Lone Star to life, as well as learning from all the talented people, from Ryan Murphy to Gina Torres. Lowe seems to be overwhelmed with gratitude, saying:

Monday’s episode of 9-1-1: Lone Star definitely wasn't a dull installment for all three Lowe family members to team up on. "Slow Burn" involved Owen tying to track down a serial arsonist, even though he was the only one who suspected a recent fire was started purposefully. At the end of the episode, Owen returned to the scene of the presumed crime to find proof, but he was hit on the head and went unconscious. Upon waking up, he found himself on the ground and surrounded by fire.

Next week’s episode will turn up the heat even more as Owen himself is suspected of being the arsonist, and some within the the 126 team will find themselves in other fiery situations. Find out what'll happen next when 9-1-1: Lone Star airs Mondays at 9 p.m. EST on Fox.

Over the course of his very long career, Robert Downey Jr. has made a lot of fantastic films. In recent years he's been making great Marvel Studios blockbusters, but in the years before that he was an actor known for having titles like Chaplin, Less Than Zero, and Zodiac on his resume. If you were to guess that any of those titles would be the one he considers the best he's ever done, however, you'd be wrong.

Instead, that distinction belongs to Shane Black's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – a movie that he not only loves, but also, in his opinion, was a massive piece in the puzzle that led to him landing the role of Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In promotion of his new movie Dolittle (his first non-Marvel movie since 2014), Robert Downey Jr. sat down as a guest on the Joe Rogen Experience podcast, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang came up in a chain of thought following a question about how long the actor dedicates to a given film production. Downey Jr.'s answer to Rogen included a reference to producer Joel Silver, which then led him to list Silver's work and their collaborations together – a list that includes Kiss Kiss Bang Bang:

Written and directed by Shane Black, the 2005 film stars Robert Downey Jr. as petty thief Harry Lockhart, who winds up accidentally auditioning for a movie about a private investigator while escaping the police following a heist gone wrong. He's flown from New York to Los Angeles where he is meant to do some background research with a professional P.I. named Gay Perry (Val Kilmer), but things quickly get out of hand when he runs into his high school crush (Michele Monaghan), and gets embroiled in a case involving a dead body, old pulp fiction novels, and an older generation movie star.

At the time that Robert Downey Jr. made Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, his stock in Hollywood was at a real low due to his publicized substance abuse issues, but Shane Black looked past that to pair him with Val Kilmer in the dark buddy comedy (and the filmmaker and actor later reunited to make Iron Man 3 together). As noted, the movie was definitely not a success when it was theatrically released, making a grand total of $15 million worldwide before leaving the big screen, but it wound up having a huge impact on Downey Jr.'s life.

If it weren't for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Robert Downey Jr. never would have had the career resurgence that came as a result of Iron Man – which now has him positioned as one of the biggest movie stars in the world at age 54. There's a lot to be thankful for in that respect, which could alone explain why the actor has such love for it, but one can also understand Downey Jr. calling it his best film simply because it really is amazing. It's cleverly plotted, absolutely hilarious, and thanks to its holiday season setting, a wonderful treat that can be enjoyed every year around Christmas.

Those of you who haven't seen Kiss Kiss Bang Bang should definitely make an effort to seek it out – and then you can follow it up by enjoying some new Robert Downey Jr. antics on the big screen in Dolittle, which will be out everywhere on Friday.

How great would Shane Black's The Predator have been if original Predator star Arnold Schwarzenegger had had a cameo? The guy is a legend, and his appearance in the new film may have been worth the price of admission for many. We personally liked the film (somewhat) but it was mostly reviled by both franchise fans and casual viewers. Maybe it wouldn't have been as unlikable if Schwarzenegger had dropped in with a famous line from The Terminator. Sadly, he turned down the role and director Shane Black didn't bat an eye.

The Predator co-writer Fred Dekker explained what almost was in the movie, comparing the plan to Luke Skywalker's end scene cameo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Here's what Dekker told Moviefone:

The new film is already chock-full of references to the original, but Fred Dekker also wanted a callback to the other popular Schwarzenegger-led franchise saying:

Also, speaking of callbacks, the film almost included a HUGE star from the Alien franchise: Sigourney Weaver's alien-destroying Ripley. Anyone else bummed that didn't happen?

The film features Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Jacob Tremblay, and Thomas James and works from a script by Shane Black and Fred Dekker. Black is know for directing the divisive Iron Man 3, The Nice Guys, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and a handful of others, with his writing credits extending far beyond his directing credits in number.

Would Shane Black's The Predator have been even just a bit better with such a high-profile cameo? Have you even seen The Predator? Are you wanting to see it at all? Let us know!

The Predator is the latest chapter in a franchise that dates back to 1987. The original Arnold Schwarzenegger action-horror film is still regarded as the best in the series, if not the only good entry in the series. Shane Black actually played a member of Schwarzenegger's team in that film, and so it's little surprise that the man who co-wrote and directed the new entry paid tribute to the original in his own way.

There are several callbacks to the original Predator in the brand new entry. In many ways, the entire structure of the new film is meant to echo the original, but beyond that, there are clear moments where The Predator wants to remind you of the original film. Here are some of the best.

The Spacecraft Opening

One of the interesting things the original Predator does is leave the characters in the dark about exactly what it is they are facing, while at the same time informing the audience right up front that the Predator is an alien. We see the spaceship do a flyby of Earth and drop the creature onto the surface. The Predator opens in much the same way, with a Predator spaceship traveling through space, although this time, it's under attack by another craft. It uses some cool technology to jump through space and escape, arriving, once again, on Earth.

Stringing Up Its Prey

The first victims of the Predator we see in the original movie are skinned and hung by their feet in the trees. The first victim of the Predator in the new movie gets dropped from the tree branches dead and is also hanging by his feet. He's not completely skinned, but the Predator is in a hurry here and clearly doesn't have time for that sort of thing. This isn't the only aspect of the way the hunter acts like the alien from the first film. It leaps between treetops in the same way the original creature did, as opposed to say, the ones in Predators who mostly stayed on the ground and used their dogs to hunt like they were chasing a fox.

The Music

Officially, the score for The Predator was written by Henry Jackman, not Alan Silvestri, who handled the score of the original film, but you wouldn't know that from the music. Many of the music cues, especially those surrounding the Predator itself, are clearly inspired by Silvestri's work in the first movie, if not taken directly from that score, making The Predator sound like you're watching the original movie as well as watching it.

One Ugly Motherfucker

One of Arnold Schwarzenegger's memorable lines from Predator is what he says at the end of the film when he finally lays eyes on the actual creature's face, and not the helmet it's been wearing the whole time. Dutch calls the creature "one ugly motherfucker." I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder because Olivia Munn's Casey Brackett has a very different opinion when she sees the alien for the first time at the beginning of The Predator. She leans down to whisper to the unconscious thing and calls it a "beautiful motherfucker."

The Dirty Jokes

The original Predator has some funny moments, but the new movie by Shane Black really amps up the comedy. Much of this comes from Keegan-Michael Key, whose character Coyle uses jokes as a defense mechanism against the horrors he's dealing with in his life. Most of his jokes are at the expense of Thomas Jane's Baxley, or more specifically, Baxley's mother, and they're pretty vulgar jokes, too. Coyle isn't the only one who likes to make jokes about female genitalia. In the original film, team member Hawkins also tries to get Billy to laugh more than once with some equally dirty jokes on the same topic. Clearly, the director wanted to keep this aspect of Predator going, since Hawkins was originally played by Shane Black.

Get to the Chopper

Arnold Schwarzenegger is, quite simply one of the most quotable action heroes ever. Sometimes intentionally and sometimes not, nearly every one of his 80s classics had a line worth remembering. Predator had several, but probably the most well known is Arnold shouting "Get to the chopper" as he urges his companion, a young woman named Anna, to escape. In The Predator, the character of Nebraska shouts "get to the choppers" in an obvious homage to Arnold, though in this case, Nebraska isn't talking about a helicopter, he's talking about motorcycles the team can use to escape.

Shane Black's new movie The Predator is now in theaters but while some may be focused on the film, a lot of the buzz around the movie right now is surrounds what you won't see in it. Specifically, a scene that was cut at the last minute following the revelation that the actor in it was a registered sex offender. Since the casting of the man in question was done by director Shane Black, who had a personal relationship with the man, a lot of heat has come down upon him. Last night, at the red carpet premiere of The Predator, Black apologized to everyone for everything that came about due to what he called an "irresponsible" error in judgment. Check out his full apology below.

Shane Black tells the Associated Press that as director of The Predator he was the captain of the ship and ultimately responsible for everything that happened. And he does take full responsibility. He understands that he made a serious error in hiring his friend Steven Wilder Striegel and putting him in a scene in the movie. While he does say that there were things he didn't know about the situation that shocked him, he doesn't use that as an excuse, he says it was his job to make sure those things don't happen, and in this case, he failed, causing pain to people in his cast.

He's also upset because, due to his error, this situation is now hanging over the movie, which means the cast and crew that helped make it can't enjoy their success as much. He does say he hopes he learns from this experience. If this apology is as genuine as it sounds, he almost certainly will.

All of this transpired just about a week ago, when Olivia Munn, who shared the one scene that Steven Wilder Striegel appeared in, learned of his history as a sex offender. She brought the information to studio 20th Century Fox, who made the decision to cut the scene ahead of The Predator's premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Frequently, we see public apologies like this get defensive or attempt explanations or justifications. We certainly don't see that here which is a welcome change of pace. Shane Black clearly understands he made a big mistake in the eyes of his cast and the public in general. While this is potentially a much bigger mistake than the average person makes on a daily basis, and an apology alone might not be enough to clear up the issue in everybody's eyes, the apology is an important part of making things right and it's an indication that Black understands what he needs to do to earn back the trust of others.

There's a trend in Hollywood as of late, where sequels continue from certain points on a timeline of a series narration, and overlook sequels -- continuity be damned. David Gordon Green's Halloween sequel does this, building right off of the story in John Carpenter's original film. And Shane Black's new The Predator takes its cues from the original, but absolutely acknowledges Predator 2 as being canon. So when we sat down with the cast at a recent press day, we asked which of the previous Predator movies they suggested audiences watch before going to this new one, and they told CinemaBlend:

It definitely would be strange to drop into Shane Black's The Predator without having seen any of the previous films. Without diving into any specific spoilers, there are lots of references to the original film, and a few nods to the sequels, that will play better if you understand this world, and what has come before it. As young Jacob Tremblay explains, the humor is somewhat rooted in the audience understanding the point of the Predator movies, and that traces back to the first film.

That being said, if you haven't yet seen Arnold Schwarzenegger facing off against an alien menace in the original Predator, what the hell is the matter with you? It's an action-movie classic. Rectify that nonsense, then grab a ticket to Shane Black's new film.

In The Predator, a military sniper (Boyd Holbrook) on mission in Mexico encounters a small Predator who is on a mysterious mission of his/her own. Caught up in a government investigation, Holbrook must now team up with a band of loony ex-soldiers and a curious scientist (Olivia Munn) to prevent an Ultimate Predator from causing even more harm.

The movie opened in theaters on Thursday night, and is poised to take the box office by storm this weekend.

It's more than a little shocking how well the Predator franchise has endured over the years, considering how even some of its most ardent supporters will admit that most of the sequels and spinoffs haven't been very good. Yet, here we are, giving another sequel a try, though this time we have Shane Black, who coincidentally co-starred in the original Predator, trying to add his unique style to the brand. The result, simply titled The Predator, still isn't able to recapture whatever magic the original film created, but it is able to make for an entertaining enough sequel, which is a first for the franchise.

Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) is a military sniper on an assignment in Mexico when his operation is thrown into disarray due to the unexpected arrival of an alien spacecraft crash-landing practically on top of him. His unit engages with the Predator and, as one might expect, does not fare well. Only McKenna survives, and he escapes with some of the alien's technology. He's able to ship the material home before being apprehended by Traeger (Sterling K. Brown) and the organization he runs which has been studying the alien threat. Traeger, in turn, brings in scientist Casey Bracket (Olivia Munn) to aid in the study of the Predator they captured, while dumping McKenna in with a group of military "Loonies" (Keegan-Michael Key, Thomas Jane, and more) so that nobody will believe anything he says about aliens. However, when McKenna's son (Jacob Tremblay) gets his hands on the alien tech mailed home by dad, well, bad stuff is going to happen.

If the original Predator successfully blended two genres together, that of action and horror, then The Predator takes it to the next level by adding a third: comedy. The film is surprisingly funny. Some of that comedy comes from Keegan-Michael Key's Coyle having a penchant for dirty jokes, and an uncomfortable amount of it comes from Thomas Jane's Baxley (he suffers from Tourette's Syndrome, so he randomly swears, which is funny, I guess). A lot of just comes from the sort of rapid-fire one-liners you would expect from a movie directed by Shane Black. While it's hard to say The Predator feels like a "Shane Black movie," it certainly feels like a "Predator movie," just one which happens to be written by Shane Black. The humor works, you'll find yourself laughing out loud at points, even just after watching a limb being torn from somebody's body.

Because make no mistake, The Predator is still an action-horror franchise. There are lots of guys with lots of big guns and no less than two alien hunters who are skilled at eviscerating whatever gets in their way. The Predator is as bloody a movie as the franchise has ever seen, jokes or no jokes. This movie earns its R-rating.

And it's where these two ideas come together that the movie starts to get lost. The "Loonies" are an interesting bunch of characters, far more so than Boyd Holbrook's "generic white male protagonist" to be sure. Whereas the military team from the first Predator was made up of slightly different variations of testosterone-fueled macho men, this time around our heroes are a group of guys who have been to war and come back broken. This subversion feels intentional, but the movie never stops long enough to deal with it in any meaningful way.

In fact, The Predator never stops for much of anything at all. It moves from one action scene to the next, one snappy quip to the next, without taking a break. It moves so fast that it's difficult to notice at first that there just isn't much story there. Characters seem to pick up information as well as equipment with no explanation where it came from, making it clear that pieces of this movie were left on the cutting room floor. Not too surprising, since we know that entire characters were cut from this film at some point, but the result is that what's left doesn't feel quite complete.

Still, in the end, while I can't say I loved The Predator, I also can't say that I didn't enjoy the hell out of The Predator. The action and the comedy combine well, and if you let the movie just take you for the ride, you'll probably enjoy the trip. I can't shake the feeling this movie wanted to be something more than it became, but I can't say I didn't have a good time with what it was.

The following contains some mild spoilers for the upcoming release, The Predator. So stop reading now if you want to go into the new movie totally unscathed.

Shane Black's The Predator bursts into theaters starting on Thursday night, and with it comes a fresh take on the Predator mythology, with not one but two different Predator creatures arriving on our planet with deadly missions. There are plenty of new characters ready to stand in the Predator's way, but one supporting cast member saw their scenes hit the cutting room floor before the final edit reached theaters. So, when we did interviews with The Predator cast in Toronto, we asked them who Edward James Olmos was supposed to play in the movie, and co-star Trevante Rhodes told us:

Short. Sweet. But it gives some deeper context into the role that Shane Black saw for Edward James Olmos. "Traeger" is the character played by Sterling K. Brown in the new movie. And yes, his introduction into the film is -- mysterious. He's certainly aware of the fact that the Predators have been visiting this planet since 1987. And Traeger recruits Olivia Munn's scientist character, Casey Bracket, into his quest to hunt down the Predator. But who he works for is... vague. And when he's at odds with Boyd Holbrook's hero, Quinn McKenna, we're not 100% sure why, when they both have a similar goal of stopping the ultimate killing machine, at whatever cost.

Perhaps there were scenes with Edward James Olmos that would have given more backstory into the purpose of Traeger's character. But for reasons only Shane Black knows, The Predator dropped all mention of Olmos, and the Mayans M.C. and Miami Vice star found himself out of the film.

Here's Trevante Rhodes, opening up a bit about his The Predator co-star:

And though we don't have Edward James Olmos bringing the intensity and heat to The Predator, the cast certainly isn't lacking for attitude and talent. Boyd Holbrook leads a band of crazies into battle against the Predator, including Thomas Jane, Keegan-Michael Key, Trevante Rhodes, Alfie Allen and Augusto Aguilera. Olivia Munn tags along, and they all fight to protect Jacob Tremblay, who might hold the key to stopping any future Predator attacks.

Shane Black's new movie will be in theaters on September 13.

With the trend of nostalgia proving endlessly popular, there is no property off limits for a reboot or long awaited sequel. This includes the horror genre, which will see new sequels for Halloween and Predator this fall. The latter is titled The Predator, and is directed by Nice Guys' Shane Black. Black is putting his signature comedy into the beloved franchise, while also crafting a new monster that would be able to destroy even the titular monster. It turns out that he also had a role in mind for original protagonist Arnold Schwarzenegger, before the actor turned it down. Although Black totally gets why. As he tells it,

Well, at least there's no hard feelings. While Shane Black would have liked Arnold Schwarzenegger to be present during The Predator's mysterious finale, the actor understandably wasn't interested in a cameo. Black's comments to Digital Spy indicate he understands how the cookie crumbles, so negotiations probably ended on a positive note.

Rebooting beloved franchises is a tricky game, especially when it comes to including its original stars. In this case there's usually two options: bring them back and make them a star of the movie, or give the OG star a mentor role for the new set of heroes. Harrison Ford did both with The Force Awakens and Blade Runner 2049 respectively. And while Arnold Schwarzenegger will return to the Terminator franchise soon, Predator fans will have to keep their fingers crossed for Schwarzenegger's character Dutch to return sometime in the future.

While Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't return for The Predator, the upcoming sequel does have some connection to the 1987 classic. Actor Jake Busey (Starship Troopers) is playing Sean Keyes, the son of Jake Busey's OG character Peter Keyes. It's especially powerful since they're father and son in real life, adding a special connection to the overall franchise.

It should be interesting to see how The Predator ends up doing at the box office. A scandal is currently surrounding the blockbuster, after actress Olivia Munn discovered a day player on the project was a registered sex offender. Poor timing, considering The Predator hits theaters this weekend.

The Predator will arrive in theaters on September 14th. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

After a slew of unsatisfying Predator sequels, Shane Black's new take on the franchise offers fans a promising entry for the franchise. The talented director has brought well-received comedic-action flicks such as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys to the screen in the past. As such, Black's role helming the new showdown is an exciting aspect of the upcoming release. But before it reached audiences, a small change had to be made to the film, as Fox deleted a scene that included a registered sex offender. This happened after actress Olivia Munn brought the information to the attention of the studio. Cast member Jake Busey recently addressed the incident at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the movie premiered. Here's what he said:

In the interview with Variety, Jake Busey's comments illustrate how the cast and crew of The Predator were unaware that actor Steven Wilder Striegel was a registered sex offender during production. Striegel originally played in a short three-page scene alongside Olivia Munn, where he reportedly hits on her character, Casey Bracket. Munn approached Fox in mid-August of the circumstances, leading them to delete the scene from The Predator within 24 hours. Striegel served six months in jail in 2010 after pleading guilty to charges regarding attempts to lure a 14-year-old girl into a sexual relationship via the internet.

While Olivia Munn and the rest of the cast has expressed their surprise of the situation, director Shane Black has been friends with Steven Wilder Striegel for 14 years, and was aware of the facts of the actor's history. Striegel also previously was cast in Black's other films including Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys. Shane Black apologized when the information was released to the public, admitting that he "personally chose to help a friend" by casting him in the project but showed understanding in the disapproval of his decision.

Jake Busey's comments comes as The Predator gets ready for its upcoming wide release. After its premiere at Toronto International Film Festival, critics have praised it for its fun, hyper-violent and hilarious approach to the franchise, with CinemaBlend's own Sean O'Connell calling it the sequel fans have been waiting for. The Predator is expected to have a strong opening when it hits theaters on September 14.

The horror genre has been on a serious roll recently, with high quality movies making tons of money at the box office. Now studios are turning their heads towards the classics, including Halloween and The Predator. The latter is directed by Shane Black, and has been building anticipation since the film's first footage dropped. The upcoming movie features Black's signature sense of humor, containing a strong cast that appear to be adding equal parts comedy and horror to their performances. The Predator also included 47 year old actor Steven Wilder Striegel, but he was cut from the sequel, after it was revealed he was a registered sex offender.

This shocking report comes from LA Times, which broke the story of Steven Wilder Striegel's cut role in The Predator. Strigel is reportedly a close friend of director Shane Black, prompting his cut scene with Olivia Munn's character Casey Bracket. It was actually Munn who is allegedly responsible for cutting Striegel out of the theatrical cut. After learning of his record as a sex offender, she went to 20th Century Fox to make sure The Predator distanced itself from the actor.

The editing process was likely prompt, as Steven Wilder Striegel was reportedly only in a three page scene of the script. Blockbusters leave sequences on the cutting room floor all the time, so that's not necessarily a strange practice. The key was the timing, as Olivia Munn allegedly wanted to make sure the situation was addressed before The Predator got a wide release.

According to the report, Steven Wilder Striegel plead guilty to allegations in 2010, after trying to solicit a minor into an online sexual relationship. After the story became public, 20th Century Fox made a statement about Striegel's casting in The Predator, saying:

While Steven Wilder Striegel was ultimately taken out of The Predator before its release, it's still possible that the controversy and potential scandal may plague its release-- if for no other reason than Shane Black is reportedly close friends with Striegel. The lesser known actor has gotten a fair amount of work after serving six months in jail, the first of which was actually Shane Black's Marvel flick Iron Man 3. But given the entertainment world's current state in the wake of sexual misconduct cases and the #MeToo movement, news of Striegel's past will have a much more active audience.

CinemaBlend will keep you updated on all things The Predator, as it gears up to hit theaters on September 14, 2018. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

A killer from another world is going to invade Earth next month when Shane Black returns to the Predator series for The Predator. The trailers for the film have seemingly promised a return to form, with intense violence and some pretty crude humor sprinkled throughout. Now that The Predator has received its official R rating, we can now confirm that these elements will help solidify its adult status. Specifically, the film has an R-rating for:

Most of these elements should not surprise longtime fans of the franchise. Predators are vicious hunters who kill, skin, and debone their victims without a second thought. Couple that with the fact that the film will introduce an elite team of special forces operators and an "Ultimate Predator" for them to face off against, and it becomes relatively clear that violence will play a significant role in this story. Then add in the fact that this is a Shane Black movie, and we can expect a lot of swearing and references to sexuality as well.

Of course, the rating laid out by Filmratings.com doesn't necessarily note that there are actual sexual situations or nudity in the film. With so much chaos accompanying the arrival of the aliens, it looks like the, "if your mom's vagina was a video game" gag from a recent red band trailer is the extent of it.

Given Shane Black's desire to bring the franchise back to the spirit of the films that opened the series back in the 1980s and 1990s (not to mention the fact that Shane Black was actually a star of the original Predator movie), we should expect something that leans much closer to John McTiernan's Predator than something as (relatively) family-friendly as Alien vs. Predator.

An R rating for The Predator seems to make plenty of sense, particularly when we look at how the franchise has endeavored to go back to its roots. Most installments in the Predator franchise (such as Predator, Predator 2, and Predators) have all been rated R, and the only film to delve into the realm of PG-13 was Alien vs. Predator, and while Alien vs. Predator: Requiem DID have an R rating, we still don't like to talk about that film.

The Predator will hit theaters next month on September 14. If you want to see all of the bloody violence and hear all of the strong language and crude sexual references, then make sure to check it out when it debuts -- just remember to leave the kids at home. Until the film makes its theatrical debut, you can also head over to our 2018 movie premiere guide to read up on all of the films that are going to hit theaters this year.

As a writer and director, Shane Black has been responsible for some incredibly popular films, from Lethal Weapon to Iron Man 3. However, in his career, he's also made movies that were less well received. One movie, that was a hit with critics, though not with audiences, was The Nice Guys, a buddy comedy with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe set in the 1970s and dealing with the Southern California porn industry (seriously, how was this movie not a hit again?). While the audience didn't really respond to the film, Shane Black would love to make a sequel, though he admits such a thing is fairly unlikely.

While the Rotten Tomatoes review aggregator has The Nice Guys sitting at an impressive 92% positive rating, the film only grossed about $62 million around the world on a reported production budget of about $50 million, all things considered, the two lead actors probably accounted for most of that budget. When additional costs like marketing are added into that, one has to assume the theatrical release probably lost money. It's possible, even likely, that the film was able to pick up some revenue on the Blu-ray and Digital front, but either way, this was no blockbuster. Not every movie needs to make a billion dollars, but at the end of the day, making movies is a business and if people don't make money on a project they're unlikely to take a risk on a sequel.

Needless to say, a sequel to The Nice Guys is something that most of us here at CinemaBlend would love to see. Our review gave the movie five stars, and while I didn't write it, I agree wholeheartedly. The Nice Guys was a breath of fresh air into the "buddy cop" genre by the guy who helped define the concept with the original Lethal Weapon. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe had perfect chemistry and it would be awesome to see them together again.

While a sequel does seem like a long shot, producer Joel Silver thought one was unlikely for the same reasons Shane Black highlights to Fandango, maybe it's not impossible. Sometimes a large enough audience finds a movie later in life that a sequel becomes a possibility. It could certainly happen here. Perhaps if enough people ask for a sequel we could get one.

Let's start the process here. Would you like to see a Nice Guys 2 happen? Let us know in the poll down below.

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It's no secret that Shane Black's The Predator has undergone some major changes since it entered post-production. The release date has been pushed back multiple times, and earlier this year star Keegan Michael-Key revealed that the majority of the film's ending has totally changed. We may never know the full extent of the alterations (we'll have to wait and see what the home video strategy is), but according to Edward James Olmos, one element that has been totally cut out is his performance:

The Battlestar Galactica actor is currently doing interviews for his new series, Mayans M.C., at the TCA Press Tour, and while sitting down with SlashFilm he revealed the status of his part in The Predator. Edward James Olmos was originally cast in the movie to play a military general, but apparently the material he filmed will not be used in the theatrical cut.

Looking at the actor's quote beyond what it reveals about his character, it's surprising to hear just how much of The Predator is being cut. There is no question that we are living in an era when big blockbusters are getting longer and longer (perhaps to accentuate a difference between it and small screen serial storytelling), but the idea of 30-45 minutes being cut down still sounds like a lot. The official running time of the movie has not yet been revealed - it's possible they haven't locked print yet - but it will eventually give us an idea of how much got removed during the editing process.

What's kind of a bummer in this whole situation is that Edward James Olmos previously expressed a lot of excitement about his part in The Predator. He went on the record about his part in the film last November and while he admitted that he hadn't seen any footage, he was taken aback by how funny the material was when he was on set, and lauded the work of both Shane Black and the rest of the cast.

There are obviously a lot of big question marks surrounding The Predator at this point, but answers are coming soon. The movie will be hitting theaters next month, specifically on September 14, and we'll hopefully get the full rundown from the stars and filmmakers as they do press. For all that and more, stay tuned here on CinemaBlend, and if you need a refresher on everything Predator, be sure to check out our Newbie's Guide.

When 20th Century Fox took over Hall H at San Diego Comic Con on Thursday, they needed only one movie to capture everyone's attentions: Shane Black's The Predator. The upcoming sequel has shown off a few trailers that suggest the presence of Jacob Tremblay and Olivia Munn, and have hinted at the camaraderie of the military team led by Boyd Holbrook and Keegan-Michael Key. But the hook of the Hall H footage today was the appearance of the Ultimate Predator. And he was a total badass. When asked what the Ultimate Predator brings to the screen, Key elaborated:

It was so much power, that the Ultimate Predator -- who towers over the smaller Predator he fights -- ripped his antagonist through a wall, slammed him down onto a car, punch a hole in his skull, and then beheaded him. Brutally.

How the human cast is going to fend off this Predator is beyond me.

The cast of The Predator had other things on their mind, though. During the Hall H panel, the cast told an hysterical story that I had them recount in CinemaBlend's video suite. Apparently, while filming the movie, the cast would gather in Keegan-Michael Key's trailer, and watch old Blaxploitation movies. And they took lines from vintage flicks like Dolemite, then attempt to work them into Shane Black's movie. I'd quote the line, but you really need to hear it from Key, himself. It's hilarious:

Shane Black's The Predator dominated Hall H with an outstanding presentation. The movie will be in theaters on September 14, and stars Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key, Trevonte Rhodes, Thomas Jane, Sterling K. Brown, Jake Busey, Alfie Allen and Yvonne Strahovski. We will have more from our exclusive interview with the cast of The Predator, and LOTS more from Comic-Con, in the coming weeks.

The Predator franchise features one of the most iconic alien designs of all time, with the Yautja hunters becoming legendary figures in the realm of pop culture. That said, the series is about to get a boost of adrenaline by introducing the ultimate predator in Shane Black's The Predator. But where did that design come from? As Black explained in a recent interview, the creature was created by taking cues from actual predators that didn't look like humans in suits. The Iron Man 3 explained:

As Sterling K. Brown's character says in a recent trailer for The Predator, "They conquered space." This is an advanced alien species that's faster and stronger than any man on earth, and the franchise needs to find a way to reflect the Yautja's physical and intellectual superiority. As Shane Black explained in his recent interview with EW, The Predator pulled that off by creating a design for the ultimate predator that was far sleeker, more agile, and more predatory in nature. It's not just a guy running around in a rubber suit; it looks like a wild animal on the loose.

Of course, that obviously raises questions about the continuity of the Predator franchise and the specific creatures that the Yautja stole genes from in the creation of the hybrid. After all, as many fans of the Predator franchise already know, the Alien series' Xenomorphs have often served as prey for these expert hunters. Does this mean Xenomorph DNA could show up in The Predator? There's no way of knowing at this point, but it definitely seems like a very intriguing possibility.

No matter what happens, we can rest easy knowing that The Predator looks like a true sequel that fans of the franchise have waited to see for decades. The Predator will finally hit theaters later this summer on September 14, so make sure to mark down your calendars and check out our movie premiere guide for more information on all of the films set to debut this year!

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Shane Black has worked on his fair share of Hollywood franchises over the years, but this summer will see him return to the Predator series as the director of The Predator. Black is no stranger films full of outlandish personalities, so it raises the question of why he decided to tell a story about a mostly mute alien invader. That said, during a visit to the set of The Predator, director Shane Black opened up to CinemaBlend and other outlets and explained that a significant draw to work on the film involved working with an alien creature who had a discernable personality. Black elaborated:

So while the Predators seldom speak in any of the Predator movies, that doesn't mean that they don't have their own unique personalities. These hunters come from a proud and traditional race of alien badasses known as the Yautja, and Shane Black was excited to dig into that side of the mythology. As far as the sense of humor was particularly concerned, Black liked the idea of showing the hunter's disbelief when humans try to fight it. It's not just a feral animal like the Alien Xenomorph; there's tradition, personality and character to it.

It's worth noting that the sense of humor element feels particularly relevant. The Predator series has long thrived on a strong sense of foreboding dread and a creepy atmosphere, but the emphasis on something funnier feels like a change of pace. In fact, while speaking with CinemaBlend about Coco last year, Edward James Olmos similarly noted how funny the film is, so it seems that Shane Black isn't the only member of the crew to hone in on the humor element.

That sense of humor feels perfectly in-line with the type of writer and filmmaker that Shane Black has become over the course of his career. After achieving fame with Lethal Weapon, Black eventually went on to become one of Hollywood's go-to creatives for the action-comedy genre. He has applied those chops to several different projects over the years, such as Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys, and what we have learned about The Predator seems to suggest that he's going to do the same on this film as well.

The Predator focuses its story on a young boy named Rory (Jacob Tremblay) who accidentally summons a new Predator to earth using alien technology. When a new hunting party begins, a group of mercenaries (led by Boyd Holbrook's Quinn, Rory's father) team up with a scientist (Olivia Munn) to uncover the secret behind the Predators and the genetic changes that have taken place in the species.

This new Predator's personality will be on full display later this year when The Predator hacks and slashes its way into theaters on September 14.

When the new Predator movie was announced in summer 2014, writer/director Shane Black stressed an important point about the project: it wasn't going to be a reboot. Instead, the film would serve as an in-continuity sequel, picking up on elements from previous movies in the canon. These elements have mostly been kept a secret, but when I was on the set of The Predator last year, Boyd Holbrook admitted to one of the blockbuster's connections while talking about his character's reaction to meeting an alien:

Last spring I joined a small group of film journalists for a trip up to Vancouver, Canada for a visit to the then in-production set of The Predator, and it was during this junket that we had the opportunity to sit down with Boyd Holbrook. The actor talked a lot about his role, mercenary Quinn McKenna, and it was towards the end of the roundtable interview that I asked about how Quinn felt about seeing an alien for the first time. It turns out that he won't be too surprised by it, because he has heard stories of the creatures existing from other people in his line of work. And while he wouldn't exactly say what his character has seen, it evidently ties back to the Central America situation from 1987's Predator.

In The Predator, based on a script by Shane Black and Fred Dekker, Quinn McKenna is a mercenary and estranged father who finds himself in serious trouble when a mission he's on is interrupted by an alien encounter. The government, trying to keep the situation under wraps, tries to bury him, and it winds up leading him to meet a group called the Loonies: a group of soldiers with a wide variety of mental and emotional issues. They definitely aren't the best team, but they are the people at Quinn's disposal, and together they wind up being the line of defense between humanity and a deadly alien invasion.

Unlike the original jungle-set Predator, the new movie will be bringing the action back to suburban America, but it will be interesting to see just how far the connections back to the original go. For your first taste of the film, you can watch the teaser trailer that was released this morning below:

Boyd Holbrook plays the lead in The Predator, but he's joined by a fantastic supporting cast that includes Trevante Rhodes, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Jacob Tremblay, Alfie Allen, and Thomas Jane. The movie will be out in theaters on September 14th, and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more of my set visit coverage!

Had things gone as they were originally planned, Shane Black's The Predator would have come out two months ago. It was originally scheduled for February 9th of this year before moving to August, and now it's set up to be released in mid-September. It hasn't been made entirely clear exactly why these delays have happened, but according to star Keegan-Michael Key, it's because the film has totally overhauled its ending:

Earlier today I participated in a roundtable interview with Keegan-Michael Key and Kathryn Hahn at Sony Pictures Animation, and while most of the discussion revolved around their work on the upcoming Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, I took the opportunity to ask Key about The Predator developments. I specifically asked how the recent reshoots were going, and he not only explained that they had just finished, but that the work that was done was fairly extensive.

It's surely isn't the most exciting thing you can hear about an anticipated blockbuster, but there is a bright side. As common place as reshoots are in modern Hollywood, there are some that develop poorly in post-production and don't go to the proper lengths to fix it. Clearly The Predator had some issues with the resolution to its story, but thankfully it sounds like we won't be seeing those issues on the big screen this fall. Hopefully the work that's been done will provide a better ending to the action, and what could have been just gets relegated to the Blu-ray extras.

Based on a script by Shane Black and Fred Dekker, The Predator will center on a group of shell-shocked soldiers who position themselves as the first line of defense against one of the titular killer aliens. Keegan-Michael Key stars as one of these soldiers alongside Boyd Holbrook, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Trevante Rhodes, and the cast also includes Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Yvonne Strahovski, and Jacob Tremblay.

Going further with his answer, Keegan-Michael Key's positive comments about Shane Black didn't stop with the compliments found above. He shared a story about a recent personal encounter with Black following a private get-together, and it apparently left him in awe of the writer/director. Said Key,

Clearly the wait has been long, but it won't be too much longer until we see the finished result of that wonderful experience -- with The Predator scheduled to arrive in theaters on September 14th. Between now and then you can catch Keegan-Michael Key reprising his role as Murray the Mummy in Hotel Transylvania 3, which will be out on July 13th.

The Predator franchise has been laying low since Nimrod Antal's Predators back in 2010, but the cinematic return of the legendary extraterrestrial killer is imminent. In the summer of 2014, 20th Century Fox announced that they were going to be bringing the series back, and now we find ourselves less than a year away from the finished product's release. But who is involved? What will it be about? Those are questions that we are here to directly address.

As we do here on CinemaBlend with all major upcoming films, we've constructed the guide below to provide you with all of the latest details and news about The Predator. We will regularly update this feature as more information comes in and we get closer to the release date, but for now, here's what we know so far:

What Have We Seen From The Predator?

Through early 2018, the answer to this question was: not much. But, on May 10, 2018 a teaser for the new film finally dropped, and it showed off some important aspects of what we can expect from The Predator, while subsequent trailers did an even better job of letting audiences know what's in store. Of upmost importance will be the fact that, while this creature will look much the same as the others we've seen on the big screen, apparently the race has begun co-opting bits of tech or biological factors that they find useful among the races they encounter on the planets they visit. Meaning, of course, that there will be some surprises afoot for audiences when our heroes begin to fight the alien this time around.

What Is The Predator Release Date?

Given that John McTiernan's original Predator was released in 1987, it would have been nice if the latest addition to the franchise was able to come out in 2017, celebrating the sci-fi/action classic's 30th anniversary. Sadly, this was a ball that was kind of dropped by 20th Century Fox, but the ultimate good news to take away is that fans will be seeing The Predator in theaters on September 14, 2018.

While September 2018 isn't a complete dead zone, the month isn't exactly packed with potential blockbusters, either, meaning that The Predator has a pretty good chance of finding and keeping an audience in that slot. The dark suspense film A Simple Favor, starring Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick, and directed by Paul Feig, debuts the same day. Meanwhile, The House with a Clock In Its Walls, with Jack Black, Cate Blanchett and Kyle MacLachlan, will open a week later. The last weekend of the month will see the animated Smallfoot, starring the voices of Channing Tatum, Gina Rodriguez and Zendaya, and the comedy Night School, with Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish, hit the big screen. Can any of these films take potential viewers away from The Predator? We'll have to wait and see.

What Is The Predator Rating?

When it comes to movies about the Predator, audiences have really only seen a slight fluctuation in the ratings department. With the exception of Alien vs. Predator, which was given a PG-13 pass by the MPAA, every other film in the continuity/series -- including Predator 2, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, and Predators -- has been rated R. This is thankfully a tradition that will continue with The Predator as well.

While official decisions about ratings typically aren't made until a film has put together a theatrical edit to show the MPAA, we already know about The Predator's rating because the blockbuster's director has been very open about it. As production on the movie was starting up in February 2017, writer/director Shane Black took to his personal Twitter account and wrote, "And, just to be clear... PG-13 is for pussies. Spines bleed... a lot" (a reference to the fact that the titular alien species collects spinal columns as trophies). Basically, this is a feature that is not being made with young kids in mind as the target audience.

What Will The Predator Be About?

Writer/director Shane Black and screenwriter Fred Dekker haven't written a script together since 1987's The Monster Squad, but the duo is back in action writing the script for The Predator -- which most definitely fits within the continuity of Predator, Predator 2 and Predators and is absolutely not a reboot. The movie will be set in the present day -- which is to say the year 2018 -- and much like the original, it will primarily feature soldiers as its central protagonists.

Full details about The Predator plot haven't been revealed yet, but we do know that the story will center on Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook), a former marine who discovers evidence that a Predator is on Earth. Unfortunately for him, nobody actually believes his claims, leading him to personally try and do something about it -- part of which is assembling a team that can help him out. And, from what actor Thomas Jane revealed about the plot a few months ago, it sounds like putting this team together won't be as cut and dry as it usually is in these types of films.

Actor Keegan-Michael Key also told us that reshoots on the film earlier this year actually rewrote about three-fourths of the final act, making it sound like something was amiss with the film's resolution. And, reports at the end of July indicated that even more reshoots were underway. While this doesn't sound good for a film that's due in theaters in just a few weeks, at least the team seems dedicated to getting it right. As you can see, though, the setup alone is pretty wild, which leads us to believe that The Predator will really be something special to behold.

Who Is The Predator Director?

Shane Black made a huge splash in Hollywood as the young hot shot writer of Lethal Weapon, and after spending years establishing himself with consistently great action/noir scripts (like The Long Kiss Goodnight, and The Last Boy Scout) the turn of the century saw him make the transition into the director's chair. He made his debut in 2005 with the cult hit Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and has since followed it up with both Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys -- and now he's making his return to the blockbuster world with The Predator.

While Shane Black's talent should be enough to get anyone excited for the sci-fi feature, it's also funny to note that the project is a homecoming of sorts for the director. Back in the late 1980s, 20th Century Fox tried to get Black to work on rewrites for the original Predator -- and this eventually led them to offer the young filmmaker the part of Hawkins -- one of Black's very few performances as an actor. Given that Hawkins wound up suffering a rather awful death in the movie, we probably shouldn't expect him to reprise the role in The Predator.

Boyd Holbrook

Boyd Holbrook's rise in the film industry has been slow, but certainly notable. He started by getting small roles in movies by talented directors, such as Gus Van Sant, Rob Reiner, Scott Frank and David Fincher, and then made a significant move in 2015 taking on a big role on the Netflix series Narcos. More recently, however, he's been starting to take on a bigger blockbuster presence, and after playing a critically-acclaimed villain in James Mangold's Logan, he will be playing hero Quinn McKenna in Shane Black's The Predator.

It's been widely reported that Boyd Holbrook was not the first choice for the lead role, as offers first went out to both James Franco and Benicio Del Toro -- but the young actor is certainly at a place in his career where it is time to test out his abilities as a leading man. Given what we've seen from him, we definitely have confidence in his skills, and it doesn't hurt that he's surrounded by a stellar supporting ensemble cast.

Trevante Rhodes

Buddy characters have been a staple of Shane Black movies from the very beginning. After all, he is the man who introduced Riggs and Murtaugh to the world, and since then basically all of his films have been built around the two hander approach. We can't say for certain yet if this will be the case with The Predator, but it certainly looks like the movie is being set up to have Boyd Holbrook's Quinn McKenna have Trevante Rhodes' Nebraska Williams as his sounding board.

Rhodes broke out in 2016 thanks to his brilliant performance in the Best Picture-winning Moonlight, and The Predator will be his first experience working on a blockbuster. When we spoke to him in early 2017, he described Nebraska Williams as a "Special Forces cat" who winds up becoming best friends with Quinn McKenna. Thanks to his military background, we can definitely expect that he knows what he is doing around a gun, which means that he should be a significant ally in the battle against the eponymous alien threat.

Jacob Tremblay

Jacob Tremblay may only be 10 years old, but he has already managed to capture the attention of cinefiles the world over. After taking on a few smaller roles, the young actor blew critics and audiences away starring in the dark drama Room opposite Brie Larson (who won an Oscar for her performance). Since then, Tremblay has become one of the most in-demand young actors in the industry, but easily one of his biggest upcoming projects is The Predator.

At this stage we don't really know how Jacob Tremblay will fit into the larger narrative of the blockbuster, but we do have a few character details. Specifically, we know that he will have a close relationship with Quinn McKenna, who is his father. Adding an extra twist to the part is that the young kid suffers from a form of autism -- an aspect of the role that we have full confidence in Tremblay to portray.

Olivia Munn

While small details have leaked out about a few of the main characters in The Predator, the role set to be played by Olivia Munn is being kept an interesting mystery. When the actress first signed on to the project, the only description of the part provided said that she is a scientist - though we have no idea what field she is working in. The good news is that there are many scientific areas of study that could be helpful in taking down a Predator.

Many will remember that Olivia Munn got her start as a host on the video game network G4, but she has spent the last few years building up her resume as an actor starring in movies like Magic Mike and Ride Along 2. In 2016 she landed her first superhero role playing Psylocke in Bryan Singer's X-Men: Apocalypse, but we're definitely hoping that The Predator has more for her to do than that film.

Keegan-Michael Key

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele have spent years tied at the hip in popular culture - starring in everything together from Key & Peele to Fargo to Keanu - but now their work is taking both of them in interesting separate directions. Peele recently made his incredibly successful directorial debut with the horror movie Get Out, and soon fans will be able to see Key on the big screen taking up arms against The Predator.

At this point, very little is actually know about the part that Keegan Michael-Key will be playing in Shane Black's upcoming blockbuster - but judging from the gun he's handling in the first look image, he is very likely another character with a military background ready to kick some serious ass. Given the tone of past Predator movies, the role could very well wind up being one of the most serious on the actor's filmography, but that doesn't mean we still don't expect him to crack one or two jokes within the movie's runtime.

Sterling K. Brown

When it comes to antagonists in The Predator, we fully expect that the titular creature will rank as the biggest threat in the movie - but that doesn't mean that the film is totally without humans trying to stand in the way of the heroes. Specifically, it's been reported that when Sterling K. Brown is first introduced in the movie, he won't be playing for the good guys, as he'll be a government agent who stands in Quinn McKenna's way. Fortunately, he winds up having a significant change of heart when he realizes the gravity of the situation the world finds itself in.

While Sterling K. Brown does have a fair share of movie roles on his resume, the actor has spent the bulk of his time on the small screen. Truth be told, the actor has actually gained a significant amount of popularity in recent years due to his work on television - namely on The People vs O.J. Simpson, and the on-going series This Is Us. That being said, Brown actually has two huge blockbusters in theaters in 2018, as he is not only a part of the Predator ensemble, but also the cast of the hugely successful Black Panther.

The Rest Of The Cast

So far in this guide we've introduced you to the main ensemble featured at the center of The Predator - but the movie's cast extends even beyond all of those awesome names. We don't really have much information about the individual parts that they will be playing within the film's narrative, but it has been reported that the rest of the cast will include Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck), Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones), Augusto Aguilera (Chasing Life), Edward James Olmos (Blade Runner 2049) and Jake Busey (Starship Troopers).

Will Arnold Schwarzenegger Be Back?

Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch was the first cinematic hero to go toe-to-toe with a Predator and survive, and yet we really have no idea what happened to the character after his adventure in the jungle. Because of this, there has been some question as to whether or not The Predator will offer up some answers. Sadly, it doesn't sound like that will be the case.

Boyd Holbrook has gone on the record about the possibility of Arnold Schwarzenegger showing up in The Predator, and he made it sound pretty clear that a cameo won't be happening. In explaining this choice, he noted that having a cameo from the original Predator protagonist would be a "gimmick" that might undermine the seriousness of the horror/sci-fi/western that is being constructed.

Of course, the biggest hint we have that Dutch showing up in the new film will be a no-go is confirmation from Schwarzenegger himself, who said:

So, unless something's changed in the months since Schwarzenegger revealed this info, it looks like The Predator will be an Ahnold-less affair.

The Predator franchise is one of the most violent and brutal film series in existence. After all, it's a universe of badass humans fighting the galaxy's most lethal hunters, so you can always expect plenty of blood and gore. However, I recently sat down with Edward James Olmos during the press junket for Pixar's Coco, and when the conversation shifted to his work on Shane Black's The Predator, he explained that the long-awaited sequel (don't call it a reboot) would actually be as funny as it is violent. Olmos explained:

Previous Predator movies have typically relied on a very stern and severe sense of machismo to set the tone of their stories, particularly the original, which has one of the more somber Schwarzenegger movie finales. However, it now sounds like Shane Black wants to inject some humor and fun into the franchise as a pairing with all of the blood and gore. In fact, Thomas Jane recently came out and explained that the sequel would actually revolve around a group of "shell-shocked" soldiers (something corroborated by Edward James Olmos' comments), and it sounds like the instability, and generally wacky personalities of these soldiers will be played for laughs whenever appropriate.

One other significant thing worth noting about Edward James Olmos' comments is the fact that Shane Black will continue to lean into his buddy-comedy chops and let the film's cast run wild. Edward James Olmos continued in our discussion of The Predator and said:

By dividing the group of six heroes into three pairs, Shane Black can explore different permutations of personalities. It sounds like the one shared between Keegan-Michael Key and Thomas Jane will deliver some of the best laughs, and we can expect all of them to provide the types of dynamics seen in films like Iron Man 3 or The Nice Guys. Even in the film's more serious scenes, Olmos found himself ruining takes because of the hilarious back-and-forth between these performers. Now, all we need is a Christmas setting, and it will feel like a perfect Shane Black adventure.

Shane Black's The Predator is currently lining up for an August 3, 2018 release. Check out our handy Predator guide to keep up with everything we know about the project, and make sure to catch Edward James Olmos in the considerably more family-friendly Coco when Pixar's latest outing debuts in theaters later this month on November 22.

Plenty of beloved action franchises have announced new projects in recent years, but arguably one of the most exciting of the bunch is The Predator. Bringing Shane Black back into the fold after a long absence, the new film will aim to revitalize the intergalactic hunters and introduce their bloody sport to a new generation. Plot details have been hard to come by, but The Predator actor Thomas Jane recently opened up and explained that it will (at least partially) center on a group of psychologically-scarred war veterans fighting for survival against the Predators. The 1922 star said:

The Predator franchise has always relied on a conflict between one or more human badasses against the titular hunter. However, it sounds like Shane Black's new film will sidestep much of the confusion and speculation that most Predator movie characters go through and get right to the point. These war veterans are ready and willing to accept that the aliens exist, and they have the skills to fight back when their lives are in danger. The Predators like to keep a low profile when they come to Earth, so making the film center on these soldiers fighting to stay alive amid an alien cover-up makes quite a bit of sense.

The reference to soldiers in the back of a bus also seems to provide some context for a photo posted by director Shane Black earlier this year in which we see several of the film's stars (including Thomas Jane) in the back of a beat-up bus. Check it out below.

With that said, Thomas Jane made sure to note in his guest spot on Shadow Nation that this is just the part that he filmed. There might be another layer to The Predator's story that we're not entirely aware of (which could explain how a young actor like Ty Simpkins can get involved in the action) so we're going to have to wait until we see footage from the film to know for sure. Shane Black has already said that the film will solidify the storylines of the series instead of providing a full-blown reboot, so all eyes are on this entry to bring the whole thing full circle.

The Predator is currently gearing up for an August 3, 2018 release. Until then, make sure to take a look at CinemaBlend's 2017 movie premiere guide, as well as our 2018 movie premiere guide!

Predator is a film in which nearly every character is killed. It doesn't matter if you're Carl Weathers or Jesse Ventura, you're dead. The first to go, however, was the man directing the new Predator movie. Shane Black, the writer of Lethal Weapon and director of The Nice Guys has a role in Predator as a character named Hawkins. He's actually the first one to go when the alien hunter gets started, and he really doesn't last long. As it turns out, there's a reason that Shane Black is the first one killed off. According to Predator producer John Davis, Black was only put in the movie because they wanted him around to help with the script. When Black, refused, they offed him. Davis says...

It's been brought up before that when Shane Black, who impressed a lot of people with the Lethal Weapon script, arrived on the set of Predator, he was asked to polish the script for that movie as well, but Black refused because he saw himself only as an actor on that particular film. However, producer John Davis' comments to The Hollywood Reporter are the first time we're hearing a couple of additional pieces of information. First, the fact that the only reason Black was cast in the first place was that they wanted his writing talent, not his acting skill. And secondly, that the reason Black dies shortly into the adventure was that the filmmakers killed him off once they realized they weren't going to get the help they wanted from him.

For whatever it's worth, John Davis must have gotten over any hard feelings because he's now producing the new Predator film, which is being directed by Shane Black. For that matter, one has to wonder if Black was annoyed at the time. One would think he would have noticed he was being unceremoniously removed from the set. He likely had an idea why.

Eventually, they did get Shane Black to work on a Predator script as he did write the screenplay for the new film. Black has clearly come a long way from being killed seven minutes in, though one wonders if any of the new cast will be living short lives as well. The Predator will hit theaters August 3, 2018.

Fans of the Predator franchise are looking forward to Shane Black's take on the franchise next year, Unfortunately, they're going to have to wait longer than we originally thought. The film was originally set to open in February of 2018, however, news has recently hit that the movie has had its release pushed back to that summer. One Predator fan expressed some concern to director Shane Black on Twitter that the delay was a bad sign, however, Black responded that he was entirely in favor of the delay and that it was a net positive for the film overall, as it moved the movie to a period where the box office competition would be less fierce. According to Black...

The new release date for The Predator is August 3, 2018. No specific reason was given for the change so it's not clear if the movie is going to need that extra time to be completed, or if the studio simply thought the film would perform better in that slot. Certainly, as Shane Black points out, not opening against a Marvel movie is likely a good thing. Previously, The Predator was set for a February 9 release in 2018 with Black Panther opening the following Friday on February 16. While Black Panther will still be a new Marvel property, and it will be opening outside of the traditional summer window, the movie is certainly expected to do some big business, likely only giving The Predator one decent weekend to make any money.

On the other hand, August of 2018 is a pretty wide open period. As summer movies more and more begin to shift into May, and even April, they've tended to leave August alone, which potentially leaves the month open for one movie to do gangbuster business. Last summer Suicide Squad was number one for three straight weeks at the box office, opening in the same early August spot, and while the DC movie was certainly going to do well either way, the fact that it had no serious competition certainly helped. The Predator may be looking for a similar bump.

Currently, the only other films set for release that weekend are Will Ferrell's Sherlock comedy Holmes and Watson, and an untitled live-action Disney movie, which, considering the fact that no movie has yet been put in that slot, may end up going unused entirely. Though with the track record of Disney, any announcement in that slot could cause the studio to rethink the weekend again.

While the mere concept of Shane Black directing a Predator movie has us excited, we'll survive waiting for the film if it means that the end result will be better. We certainly don't want to see the movie crushed by another blockbuster if the film is good enough to be a hit in its own right.

Shane Black's take on The Predator is one of the most eagerly anticipated movies currently in production. Boyd Holdbrook, Olivia Munn, Trevante Rhodes, Keegan-Michael Key, and Thomas Jane are the ones tasked with bringing down the monstrous creature, and it now sadly turns out that they won't get a helping hand from someone who has gone face-to-face with a Predator before. That's because Arnold Schwarzenegger, who starred in the very first Predator film, turned a role down. And now he has revealed that, despite approached by by Shane Black and producer Joel Silver, he turned it down because he simply didn't like the part. Arnold Schwarzenegger did insist that he's still open to appearing in the film, but only in a bigger part, as he explained,

At least Arnold Schwarzenegger has given himself a little bit of wiggle room to possibly make his return as Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer, who was the first to encounter and defeat the Predator when the original film was released back in 1987. Die-hard fans of the franchise were hoping that Dutch would at least pop up along the way to offer some much needed advice to the above team of soldiers. But since Arnold Schwarzenegger made it clear to Yahoo that he is only interested in doing so if it is the right role, and it's unlikely that Shane Black will now be chomping at the bit to return with a freshly written part.

While Arnold Schwarzenegger had to tussle with the Predator down in the Val Verde jungle, Shane Black's Predator will find his posse batting the creature in suburbia. You can get a glimpse of Sterling K Brown, Trevante Rhodes, Boyd Holbrook, Olivia Munn, Keegan-Michael Key, and Jacob Tremblay, as well as Shane Black, all lined up and ready to face the Predator below.

But while it's disappointing to learn that there are currently no plans to include Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Predator, we all know that, even if he did appear, there was no way he'd come close to topping his most iconic scene from the original. You can relive this delightful slice of movie magic below.

We'll get to see if Shane Black and his team can come anywhere near to matching the above when The Predator is released on February 9, 2018.

The next installment of the Predator franchise -- directed by Shane Black and titled simply The Predator -- is now in the midst of production... but information about the story has only been leaked in drips and drabs. A first look image from a couple weeks ago gave us our first look at the central cast, including Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Olivia Munn, Keegan-Michael Key, Sterling K. Brown and Jacob Tremblay, but we have learned few details about the roles each of them are playing. That remains true for most of the cast, but we can now report a few details that we recently learned about the part being played by Rhodes... a.k.a. Nebraska Williams.

In the wake of Moonlight's Best Picture Oscar win and its release on Blu-ray and DVD, I had the wonderful chance to hop on the phone with Trevante Rhodes this past weekend, and a nice chunk of our chat was dedicated to talking about his work on The Predator. As you might expect, the actor was limited in what he could say about the film, but he did give me an explanation for his costume in the official cast image, as well as his character's awesome name. Said Rhodes,

Stressing the Shane Black-ness of the film and the friendship with Boyd Holbrook's character definitely leaves us with a very distinct idea of what to expect from Trevante Rhodes' part in The Predator. Going back to Lethal Weapon in 1987, Black has built a career writing "buddy" screenplays -- and he's had incredible success doing so. From Mel Gibson/Danny Glover to Robert Downey Jr./Val Kilmer to Russell Crowe/Ryan Gosling, the filmmaker has put together some of the greatest cinematic duos of the last 30 years, and now we have to wonder if he's doing the same with Rhodes's Nebraska Williams and Holbrook's Quinn McKenna.

From what we've learned during the development of The Predator, McKenna will be the lead in the film, and kick start the narrative by discovering evidence that the titular alien is on Earth (a claim that nobody believes). As far as relationships go, we now know that Trevante Rhodes' Nebraska Williams is his best friend, but it's also been reported that Jacob Tremblay is playing his autistic 10-year-old son. Sterling K. Brown's role is a government agent who is an antagonist before needing the help of the heroes, and while their direct connection to the aforementioned characters is unclear, we know that Olivia Munn will be playing a scientist while Keegan Michael-Key is another soldier who gets pulled into the hunt.

While The Predator is still in production and not slated for release until February 9, 2018, you can catch Trevante Rhodes' impressive breakout performance in Moonlight on Blu-ray and DVD now -- and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more from our interview!

As of right now, The Predator has two great things going in for it: it's being written and directed by action master Shane Black and has a truly impressive cast. The latest film about the man-hunting alien is looking more stacked than one could have hoped for, and now The Predator is adding one last member to its ensemble. The hunt for a full cast is finally over as Augusto Aguilera joins The Predator as the final main character.

Deadline has the scoop, and they report that Augusto Aguilera will be the final role of the main ensemble. There are no details on who the actor will be playing, but the chances are extremely strong that he will play a military/soldier type who will end up going head-to-head in a high-stakes battle against the alien Predator. Whether his character survives until the end of the movie is another question entirely.

This will be Augusto Aguilera's first major film role, having played a number of television series prior. His resume includes appearances on shows like Chasing Life, Major Crimes, Ice, and FX's upcoming drama series Snowfall.

Augusto Aguilera will fight the titular hunter alongside a great cast that includes Sterling K. Brown, Trevante Rhodes, Boyd Holbrook, Jacob Tremblay, Olivia Munn and Keegan-Michael Key. That's a mighty fine cast right there, and hopefully Aguilera's inclusion makes it all the stronger. Several character details are being kept under wraps, but we do know some minor details. Boyd Holbrook plays main character Quinn Mackenna, a Special Forces Commando; Olivia Munn is a scientist; Trevante Rhodes is playing an ex-Marine and best friend of Mackenna; Sterling K. Brown is a government agent who imprisons Holbrook's character early on but then must rely on him to hunt the Predator; Key is a soldier who teams up with Rhodes and Holbrook; and Tremblay plays Holbrook's autistic son who is the key to communicating with the Predator.

For obvious reasons, plot details are being kept behind lock and key, but you can bet there will be a bunch of guys getting picked off by the Predator. The movie is directed by Shane Black with a script he co-wrote with Fred Dekker. The film is not a reboot, but is set in the same timeline as the original 1987 film. This new version will also apparently not ignore the events of the first events (but don't expect Arnold Schwarzenegger to show up). The Predator will definitely be an R-rated film because, as Shane Black put it, "PG-13 is for pussies."

The Predator is expected to hit theaters on February 9, 2018. Until then make sure to check back in with CinemaBlend and we'll update you on all things Predator as soon as new information becomes available.

It takes a special kind of person to battle a Predator, so how do you improve your chances of vanquishing the extraterrestrial killer? Put together your own team of badass killers. At least, that's what the cast of The Predator looks like in their first official photo together. See for yourself!

Director Shane Black (who appeared in the original Predator movie) went on Twitter early today to post the first official image from The Predator set to celebrate production kicking off. From left to right, we have This Is Us' Sterling K. Brown, Moonlight's Trevante Rhodes, Logan's Boyd Holbrook, X-Men: Apocalypse's Olivia Munn, Keanu's Keegan-Michael Key, and at the bottom, we have Shane Black kneeling next to Room's Jacob Tremblay. Oh don't underestimate that last actor, folks. I suspect Tremblay could unleash his inner fury towards the Predator if properly provoked. As Black noted, this is just some of the cast assembled, and we'll be seeing more actors announced/featured in the near future. For instance, it was reported last month that Thomas Jane will appear. Just don't expect Arnold Schwarzenegger to show up.

So who exactly is this group of individuals who will be fighting a new Predator for the franchise's fourth installment? (Sixth if you count those Alien crossovers.) Although last summer Shane Black said that the main hero, who is now being played by Boyd Holbrook, would be named Quinn Mackenna, none of the characters have been officially identified yet. Fortunately, we do some details about most of them. Holbrook is playing a Special Forces Commando, Olivia Munn is playing a scientist, Trevante Rhodes is playing an ex-Marine and best friend of Holbrook's character, Keegan-Michael Key is playing a man who will team up with Holbrook and Rhodes' characters, Sterling K. Brown is playing a government agent who imprisons the main protagonist before having to rely on him for help against the Predator, and Jacob Tremblay is playing the main protagonist's son, who is autistic and is the key to communicating with the Predator. Quite the lineup we have here.

It's also worth mentioning that a few days before posting the cast photo, Shane Black confirmed that The Predator will be rated R, listing the reason for this in the tweet below.

No specific plot information concerning The Predator has been revealed yet, although Shane Black debunked the report about the blockbuster taking place in a suburban setting. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more information about the The Predator as it comes in, and with shooting now officially underway, surely something interesting will arrive soon.

The Predator will wreak havoc in theaters on February 9, 2018. Let us know what you think of the movie's cast so far in the comments below.

We've got a new Predator coming and it's been filling out its cast with some really interesting and exciting choices (hey there Keegan-Michael Key). One of those choices was rumored to be UFC fighter, Conor McGregor, who claimed he was offered the lead role in the movie, but turned it down due to the shooting schedule and pay issues. Director Shane Black is now stepping in to clear things up about the role McGregor was offered. According to Black, McGregor was indeed offered a part, but it wasn't the lead of the film.

Shane Black took to Twitter to clear up the rumors surrounding Conor McGregor's involvement with The Predator. Previously, the UFC fighter said in an interview that he was offered the lead role in The Predator, but that he turned it down. Aside from the fact that he wanted more money for the part, the shoot would have spent eight weeks in Canada. McGregor wasn't willing to commit the time, in large part due to his girlfriend being in the later stages of pregnancy. Still, hane SBlack wanted to clear things up and say that while McGregor was offered a role, it wasn't the lead role. That part belongs to Boyd Holbrook.

While this distinction might seem out of nowhere, Shane Black and company likely didn't want people thinking there isn't a lead character attached yet. Or it could be that if Boyd Holbrook is the lead, why let people think that the role is going to someone else? The lead role was offered to (and declined by) Ben Affleck, Tom Hardy, and Benicio Del Toro before Holbrook accepted, so they don't really need any more press swimming around the lead character

There's still a lot we don't know about The Predator movie, but new details have slowly been unwrapped. The film will not be a reboot, but a sequel that acknowledges the events of previous movies in the franchise. It stars Boyd Holbrook (Logan), and in an example of exceptional casting, Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight), and Keegan-Michael Key (Keanu) as former marines who are up against the threat of multiple alien hunters. Sterling K. Brown and Olivia Munn round out the cast as a government agent and a scientist respectively. It's still unclear if Arnold Schwarzenegger will show up in some way or not.

Shane Black will put his excellent action sensibilities to use once again as director off of a script that he co-wrote with Frank Dekker. The Predator is currently scheduled for release on February 9, 2018. There's bound to more updates, so stick with CinemaBlend and we'll keep you informed on any and all things Predator.

An athlete taking on roles in major movies is nothing new. Dwayne Johnson memorably got his start in the world of wrestling, Jason Statham was an Olympic diver and world-class kickboxer, and even LeBron James has slowly but surely proven himself as a strong comedic presence (in one movie, anyway). One athlete who now has the pick of the litter for roles is none other than UFC's Conor McGregor---who is currently slated to appear on Game of Thrones this year and even got naked on a horse for a recent Pegasus World Cup commercial. Now it seems that he was actually up for a role in Shane Black's The Predator, but turned it down when the money and time commitment didn't suit the needs of his personal life. The fighter explained:

During a recent interview with An Experience With (via AvPGalaxy), McGregor finally explained why he decided not to take the lead role in The Predator. Although it would seem like an excellent career opportunity for the MMA fighter, spending eight weeks in Canada didn't seem very appealing -- particularly with his girlfriend currently in the later stages of pregnancy. Conor McGregor has experienced a massive influx of job opportunities in recent months but seems only willing to accept the ones that will allow him to continue focusing on his current lifestyle.

I would like to reiterate the fact that Conor McGregor was paid a good sum of money to get naked on a horse for three days, so going to Canda for eight weeks very clearly doesn't appeal to him when the money isn't good enough. I can't say that I blame him.

Conor McGregor isn't the only big name that has turned down a role in The Predator in recent months. In addition to the MMA star, the film reportedly also failed to lock down other well-known actors like Ben Affleck, Tom Hardy, and Benicio Del Toro. Apparently, once you've acted in a Batman movie, you just have no interest in Predator stories. That said, the film has managed to sign some seriously engaging performers in recent months, such as Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Sterling K. Brown, Jacob Tremblay, and Keegan-Michael Key.

Those recently announced cast members make it very clear that The Predator is going for a very different ensemble than the musclebound heroes of the 1987 original, so maybe it's for the best that Conor McGregor isn't involved. We will have to wait and see.

We will bring you more information related to Shane Black's The Predator as new updates become available to us. The film is currently slated to hit theaters on February 9, 2018.

If there are two things Shane Black knows how to work with, it's working with smart kid actors and the Predator franchise. So naturally his return to said series with The Predator was going to include yet another young talent, and that talent happens to be Room's Jacob Tremblay. While he may be young, he certainly knows his Predator references - or at least, someone close to him does. Take a look at his celebratory tweet below:

Fans of Tremblay's could find this hysterical tribute on Twitter, which shows the young actor ready to take on the legendary alien hunter. However, given that Jacob Tremblay will be playing an autistic child who can decipher the language of the Predator species, there may not be as much carnage between him and his extraterrestrial co-stars as we thought. Still, should there be any sort of fighting between Tremblay and The Predator, we wouldn't be surprised if there's some sort of ace up his sleeve that equals the playing field.

Who could blame Jacob Tremblay for celebrating, as landing his role in The Predator is probably his biggest gig in his post Room career. Though that's not to say he hasn't been busy as he's still been racking up credits in films like Shut In and Before I Wake, as well as TV shows and specials like The Last Man on Earth and Funny or Die's Donald Trump's The Art of The Deal: The Movie. Still, knowing Shane Black's work with both dialogue and action, this could possibly be the most challenging role for Tremblay in his career.

We must admit, after Jacob Tremblay dropped that epic Schwarzenegger reference, we've been hearing those magic words ringing through our heads. And we bet you've heard them, too. So let's just take a moment, and relive the classic moment from Predator that we've all been waiting for. Feel free to quote along with us, courtesy of the video below.

The Predator will hit theaters on February 9, 2018, while Before I Wake still looking for a release date at some point this year.

So far, the casting for Shane Black's planned reboot, The Predator, has been on point, and has made sense. Logan villain Boyd Holbrook is joining Olivia Munn, Keegan-Michael Key and Sterling K. Brown, while Thomas Jane (The Punisher) and 50 Cent are rumored. I can dig that. But when you tell me that Room standout Jacob Tremblay has a part, I begin to wonder how a 10-year-old kid can fit into what has been, prior to this, a sci-fi horror thriller... and a bloody one, at that. Turns out, the answer makes sense.

THR has the exclusive on the casting of Jacob Tremblay in The Predator, and the description of his character has us intrigued. Holbrook is the main character, an ex-Marine who somehow stumbles on evidence of the existence of the title creatures, though no one will believe in what he has to say. Tremblay, his son in the movie, helps his father along in a specific way. The kid is autistic -- and, according to THR, will be bullied in school because of his differences. Only, Tremblay's autism will allow him to better understand languages, will may allow him to communicate with The Predator.

So it's like Arrival meets Predator, with a dash of Room and, hopefully, the explosive carnage of Predator 2. Yeah, we can get on board with that.

There's no way NOT to be excited by The Predator, which is due in theaters in 2018. In addition to Shane Black directing the film, it's co-written by Fred Dekker, the genius behind such genre classics as Night of the Creeps, The Monster Squad, and RoboCop 3. While I might not be over the moon about a new take on the Predatory mythology, putting the concept in their hands has to lead to something incredibly exciting.

The casting announcements on The Predator means that production is about to ramp up, and THR says shooting will begin in Vancouver shortly. We don't know much about the plot, though it has been rumored that the story will be based in a suburban setting, and the addition of young Jacob Tremblay as an autistic child who is bullied in school lends some credence to that notion... even though it hasn't been conformed yet (and actually has been debunked in certain circles).

We'll continue to track the progress of The Predator, which is aiming for a February 9, 2018 release date.

Of all the DC heroes that have ever appeared on the silver screen, arguably none has a worse reputation than Green Lantern. The character has only headlined one movie to date, and the less we say about that Ryan Reynolds-fronted abomination, the better. However, things certainly seem to be shaping up for the character. DC is currently set to get back into the Green Lantern business in 2020 when Green Lantern Corps finally debuts, and our faith in the project has gradually solidified as DC has announced new and exciting details in recent days. Green Lantern Corps does not have a director attached to helm the story just yet, but all of the updates on the project seem to point to one perfect candidate: Shane Black.

We knew Shane Black was the perfect choice for Green Lantern Corps the moment DC Entertainment described the fundamental structure of the upcoming superhero adventure: "Lethal Weapon in space." The overarching narrative of the film will center on Hal Jordan and John Stewart, and it will follow their "buddy cop" dynamic as they operate as Green Lanterns for Sector 2814. It would be easy to suggest that Shane Black is the perfect choice to helm Green Lantern Corps simply because he wrote the original Lethal Weapon (and that spec script has since gone on to become legendary in the film industry), but his qualifications run much deeper than that. Shane Black is THE buddy movie director in Hollywood. From Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang to The Nice Guys to even Iron Man 3, Black's best films have pretty much always relied on great buddy-cop dynamics between two mismatched protagonists. He knows how the formula works, and nobody does it better than him.

Shane Black's expertise with the buddy cop formula is something that the DCEU could use right now. Even at their darkest moments, Black's movies are utterly hilarious and show a strong tendency towards black (pun wholeheartedly intended) humor. With the DCEU always receiving criticism that it is too grim and somber for certain segments of the audiences, the classic Shane Black touch could be precisely what the silver screen DC movies need while still retaining their inherent darkness. After all, turning Hal Jordan and John Stewart into the Riggs and Murtaugh of the DCEU is a prospect that's simply too good to pass up.

Beyond Shane Black's clear affinity for buddy movie dynamics, we should also note the fact that he has clear experience with these types of heroes. Regardless of the polarizing nature of Iron Man 3's Mandarin twist, we cannot argue against Black's deft handling of the action sequences. The guy has a definite knack for framing superhero chaos on the silver screen, and he has even proven himself capable of handling huge numbers of aerial characters in a single combat sequence.

Need proof? Look not further than the climax of Iron Man 3:

Now imagine that scene in outer space, replace the Iron Man suits with Green Lanterns and try to contain your excitement. Iron Man 3's final battle scene was a perfect practice run for an even bigger Green Lantern Corps adventure, and we want to see what he's capable of on the DC side of the aisle.

Of course, that's just our take. What's yours? Is Shane Black a good choice for Green Lantern Corps, or do you have another filmmaker in mind? Let us know what you think in the comments section below so we can keep this conversation going!

Green Lantern Corps is currently slated to hit theaters on July 24, 2020.

As The Predator gets closer to its production date of February 2017, Shane Black has been busy filling out the remaining cast and crew positions. Boyd Holbrook and Olivia Munn will lead the cast, and now the reboot/sequel has found its cinematographer. This latest addition should give film fans a better idea of what this film is going to look like; and if his past work is anything to judge him by, it's going to be gorgeous. DCEU cinematographer Larry Fong has joined the crew of The Predator.

/Film has the scoop and they've reported that Larry Fong will serve as the cinematographer of The Predator. Fong is a favorite of Zack Snyder, and he's worked with the director on 300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. While Snyder tends to produce pretty divisive films, the one thing they have in common is that they all are visually incredible, and much of the credit for that goes to Larry Fong.

Larry Fong first got his start with J.J. Abrams through the Super 8 Film Festival and went on to be director of photography for the pilot of Abrams' TV series Lost. He was nominated for an ASC Award for his work on the episode. Fong would go on to serve as DP for eight more episodes of Lost. His other work includes Now You See Me and most recently Kong: Skull Island, a film that's gotten a lot of praise for the way it looks in the trailers. Fong has a resume of visually stunning work, and it's a major win for The Predator now that he's on board.

The details surrounding Shane Black's The Predator have been tightly guarded, but the film will serve has a soft reboot of the franchise. The events of the first Predator film from 1987 starring Arnold Schwarzenegger will be referenced in the film, meaning that it's also a sequel. Black has said that the movie will "stand on its own two feet" but that it will acknowledge that it's 30 years later in the continuity. Shane Black has also said that the film will more than likely be rated R. Who wants to see a PG-13 Predator movie, anyway?

It was initially rumored that the film would take place in the suburbs, but Shane Black has since debunked that rumor. The film will star Boyd Holbrook, who is replacing Benicio del Toro after the actor dropped out. Olivia Munn will be playing a strong supporting role. Other than the fact that the Predator will once again be on the hunt for humans, little else is known about this movie. The Predator will make its way into theaters on February 9, 2018.

It's been a long time since a Predator movie has been critically well received by the masses, but Shane Black aims to fix that. The Iron Man 3 director (who also appeared in the first movie as Rick Hawkins) is helming a new Predator installment, titled The Predator, which was originally believed to be a reboot, but has since been confirmed to be a sequel. With principal photography approaching, character and plot details are slowly coming out, and last week, it was reported that the new movie would take place in a suburban setting. However, that particular bit information has since been debunked.

Shane Black confirmed to Collider that contrary to the news The Hollywood Reporter provided last Thursday, The Predator will not see the eponymous monster rampaging through a suburban neighborhood. So where will the story written by Black and Fred Dekker take place? That remains to be seen, but at least we can cross off the possibility of seeing the Predator cause chaos through swimming pools and backyard barbecues.

To be fair, had this rumored been true, it wouldn't have been the first time a Predator movie was set outside of a jungle, the setting of the original Predator and 2010's Predators. 1990'sPredator 2 was based in Los Angeles, and saw that alien menace battling military forces and drug cartel members. For now, Shane Black and the other creative minds involved haven't provided any clues about where The Predator will take place other than to set the record straight about this suburbia rumor. It's possible the new movie will revisit familiar territory, like a jungle or the streets of a major city, or perhaps it will take place in a new environment, like a desert or forest. However, even if we knew what the new setting will be right now, there's still the question of how the new players will come across the extraterrestrial beast.

While The Predator plot details are being kept under the proverbial lock and key, the movie's cast is slowly starting to come together. Guardians of the Galaxy's Benecio del Toro was originally in negotiations to star in The Predator, but he was forced to depart reportedly because of scheduling issues. Narcos actor Boyd Holbrook has since replaced him as the lead protagonist, a Special Forces operative named Quinn Mackenna, and X-Men: Apocalypse's Olivia Munn is in talks to play a scientist. Beyond that, Shane Black has said that he wants to keep the R-rated adventure firmly in sc-fi/thriller territory (with a little humor thrown in), while also taking steps to strengthen the franchise's "complicated" continuity.

The Predator is slated to hit theaters on February 9, 2018 (putting it in competition with Fifty Shades Freed), so keep checking in at CinemaBlend to read all the most relevant updates concerning the movie.

In the three Predator movies that we've seen (discounting the Alien vs. Predator chapters), a new setting has been selected each time out. The first movie, of course, brought us to a South American jungle; Predator 2 was set in Los Angeles; and Predators took audiences to the titular creatures' homeworld. Shane Black's upcoming sequel The Predator will be continuing this tradition, but in a very unusual location: the suburbs.

This bit of information has been revealed by The Hollywood Reporter, though it seems that's the extent of the details that they have about the script that is being co-written by Shane Black and Fred Dekker. Beyond its suburban setting, the only other thing that we know about the story is that it will once again follow a group of characters, and that it will fit into the canon of the franchise and won't be a reboot.

Of course, we should also mention that the new trade report about The Predator comes packed with a new cast addition as well. Earlier this fall we learned that Boyd Holbrook would be replacing Benicio Del Toro as the central protagonist in the film, but now we have learned that Olivia Munn is also in talks to join the growing ensemble. While Holbrook will be playing Special Forces commando Quinn Mackenna, there are no details about Munn's role beyond the fact that she is a scientist (it's easy to roll your eyes at what looks like "sexy scientist" casting, but we can hope that a filmmaker as talented as Shane Black will make it work).

Things didn't work out with Benicio Del Toro as the lead of The Predator due to scheduling conflicts, which were largely caused by the fact that the new action movie is hurtling towards its start date and getting serious about putting all of its pieces in place. When I spoke with Shane Black late last month, he noted that we should be hearing a whole lot more casting announcements in the coming weeks. Hopefully those announcements will come paired with at least minor details about the plot.

Production on The Predator is gearing to start up in early 2017, with Twentieth Century Fox having announced that the film will be out in theaters on February 9, 2018 (a weekend they've grown to like thanks to Deadpool's success). We should be hearing a whole lot more about the coming blockbuster in the coming weeks and months, so be sure to stay tuned for all kinds of updates.

In the meantime, hit the comments section below to tell us what you think both about The Predator being set in the suburbs, and Olivia Munn joining the cast as an as yet unnamed scientist.

A few weeks ago, The Predator made a pretty significant change. While it originally looked as though the upcoming action film would star Benicio Del Toro, the Oscar winner's busy scheduled demanded he leave the blockbuster -- and Logan star Boyd Holbrook has come in to replace him. Casting shake-ups like these tend to worry audiences - but writer/director Shane Black has assured us there's nothing to worry about. While there is certainly a plan in place for Holbrook to hit the gym, his plans for hero character Quinn Mackenna have remained the same.

This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Shane Black over the phone in promotion of his contribution to the Austin Film Festival-published book On Story - Screenwriters & Filmmakers On Their Iconic Films, and I took the opportunity to ask him about the development of The Predator. I asked if Quinn Mackenna as a character was being altered as a result of having a new actor in the role, but Black explained that nothing much has changed in the script -- before adding that he does plan to have Boyd Holbrook basically live in a gym for a while. Said the director,

Boyd Holbrook has earned positive notices for his work in the past, and certainly has great potential to become an awesome central hero in the Predator canon... but he apparently won't be the only terrific star featured in The Predator's ensemble. While he couldn't name any names yet, Shane Black did tell me that the coming weeks will feature some exciting announcements about actors joining his squad:

You can be sure that we will be all over every casting announcement we hear for The Predator, so be sure to stay tuned for that news. In the meantime, you can read more about Shane Black's work in in On Story - Screenwriters & Filmmakers On Their Iconic Films, which is now available for purchase.

Not too long ago, the narrative behind the creation of Iron Man 3 started to take an interesting post-release turn. Writer / director Shane Black went on record as stating tha a female villain was to be had in the inclusion of Rebecca Hall's Maya Hansen into the narrative fold, but an official decision from Marvel Studios' top brass put the kibosh on such a happening. The main reasoning, at least according to Black's side of the story, was that toy sales were at stake in the eyes of the studio. While we can't confirm the rational involving toy sales, we can now confirm that this going concern was grist for the mill that greatly reduced Hall's participation in the Marvel sequel.

During an interview reported by The Toronto Sun, Hall spoke with reporters before the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of her latest film, Christine. And in that conversation, Rebecca Hall not only confirmed that Shane Black's story was on the up and up, she divulged further information that indicated her role in the overall film was trimmed. Hall's first addition to the story was as follows:

Not only does this new information confirm the fact that Marvel Studios meddled with the story of Iron Man 3, in order to serve some sort of agenda on their hands, it also reaffirms the fact that Maya Hansen's heel turn in the second act wasn't just a cheap trick. Unfortunately, the full extent of her intentions was never revealed, as Aldritch Killian and The Mandarin took the spotlight as the villains in the trilogy ending installment that eventually went on to make $1.2 billion worldwide. Still, the Iron Man 3 that could have been exists only on the written page of any closely guarded or discarded drafts that exist to this day.

Perhaps the greatest cut of all when it comes to the tale of Iron Man 3 and the systematic reduction of Maya Hansen, is the fact that the big changes to Rebecca Hall's participation in the film came after she had been working on the film for quite some time. As she explains in her further comments on the matter, Maya's fate was changed rather late in the game:

That newly minted death scene in Iron Man 3 basically consisted Maya Hansen still getting shot out of nowhere by Aldrich Killian, all because she decided to threaten him in the name of Tony Stark. While this doesn't sound like the sort of interaction Rebecca Hall was hoping for, it could have been a lot worse when it comes to her mode of exit.

In the meantime, you can see Rebecca Hall next in Christine. The film is currently in limited exhibition, with an October 14th release date in the near future.

Benicio Del Toro has been a bit franchise-happy as of late. Specifically, in recent years we saw him put on a tremendously strange get-up to play The Collector in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Guardians of the Galaxy; soon he will be playing the new villain in Star Wars: Episode VIII; and he's even got a spin-off going for his character in Sicario. Those three would be enough for most actors, but it looks like Del Toro will soon be adding another series to his resume: The Predator.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned from inside sources that Benicio Del Toro is now in talks to play a key role in the upcoming The Predator, which is being directed and co-written by Shane Black. The trade report says that the film is being planned to have an ensemble cast (more people for the monster to kill, I guess), but they note that Del Toro will be "anchoring" the piece -- suggesting that he will be the one following in the footsteps of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny Glover, and Adrian Brody (and may be a guy named Quinn Mackenna). Sadly, there is no information about the personality of the character, or how he will fit into the plot we know nothing about.

What's interesting about this news is that apparently it's a development that has been in the works for a good amount of time now. According to the report, both 20th Century Fox and Benicio Del Toro have been discussing the idea of the actor being in The Predator for months. It's only because Del Toro's schedule has recently changed that things have been able to move forward, and now it looks as though he will be available for a shoot that is set to begin in the early months of 2017.

As mentioned earlier, basically nothing is known about the story being told in the new Predator, but we do know one thing: it's definitely not a reboot. When I spoke to Shane Black earlier this year for his amazing new movie The Nice Guys, he noted that moves are being made to actively solidify the continuity of the franchise, with elements in the narrative that tie back to the John McTiernan's original movie from 1987. Black wrote the treatment for the film, and Fred Dekker, who last teamed with Black writing the script for the 1987 cult hit The Monster Squad, is taking care of the screenplay.

With The Predator set to begin filming in February, with a release date set for February 9, 2018, you can expect that the next few months will be filled with sporadic reports about the blockbuster's development and casting. Given that it's a movie for which we're tremendously excited (even more so now thanks to the potential of Benicio Del Toro signing on), you can be sure that we'll have all of the updates for you here on Cinema Blend.

Now that we all know that Predator will be coming back in another big screen adventure, the hopes that Arnold Schwarzenegger will be back on board are pretty high. Well, it looks like we finally have an idea of who the main good guy will actually be. Director Shane Black has let us all in on some key information about the new movie's protagonist.

In speaking with Empire (via The Playlist), Shane Black, while wary of giving away too much information on the new Predator, known simply as The Predator, revealed the name of the character who will lead the franchise into the future. Black wouldn't say one way or the other if Arnold Schwarzenegger would be involved in any capacity with the film, only that they were playing with story ideas that both included and didn't include the actor. Of course, since Black wouldn't confirm, that only means that we might get the chance to see Schwarzenegger in another Predator film.

The 1987 Predator starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer, the leader of a six man, elite special forces team that's been sent into Central America to rescue hostages who are being held there by insurgents. During their mission they discover that they're being hunted by a nearly invisible advanced alien who can seek them out with thermal imaging. Dutch and his team then have to risk their lives to beat the creature and get out of the jungle in one piece.

Predator was barely successful with critics when it was released, but audiences loved it. On a budget of around 15 million, the sci-fi, action horror movie grossed over $98 million worldwide, spawning two sequels and two crossover films with the Alien franchise. Since its release, the movie has gained momentum with critics, with several outlets giving it credit as a thrilling action film. In 2007, Entertainment Weekly even named Predator the 22nd greatest action movie of all time.

While there was some confusion at first as to whether or not the new film would be a reboot, director Shane Black confirmed about a year ago that, since the property already had a rich history that could be mined for The Predator, his film would be a sequel. And, since the plan right now is to use the earlier films to inform the new sequel, there could certainly be room for Arnold Schwarzenegger to make an appearance, even if he's only seen in a blink and you miss it type of cameo.

So, there's still hope that Schwarzenegger's Dutch will show up in The Predator. We can all see if he was welcomed back to Predator fold when the movie opens on February 9, 2018.

Iron Man 3 may be one of the highest grossing MCU films, but when it comes to the fans, the film couldn’t be more divisive. On one hand, people like its personal self-contained story about Tony Stark, further examining him as a character. On the other hand, people disliked the use of the Mandarin, one of Iron Man’s most prominent villains in the comics. Shane Black, director and writer of Iron Man 3, has heard the complaints, but he still thinks the twist works. He argues, in fact, that it might work too well.

For those who need a quick recap, the Mandarin in the film is a terrorist figure played by Ben Kingsley who turns out to just be a buffoonish actor hired by a corporation to be their front man. Fans felt this was a disservice to the character, and it’s frequently used as the prime example of the MCU villain problem. Marvel even made a one shot about the "true Mandarin" as an apology. While speaking with IGN, Shane Black was asked how he felt about the twist three years later.

Shane Black makes a point. Through trailers, commercials, and other promotional materials, movies often reveal the entire film before it hits theaters. The trailers for modern blockbusters like Independence Day: Resurgence and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice have spoiled plots and twists for moviegoers to the point that almost nothing is a surprise by the time you sit in the theater. If nothing else, the Mandarin twist caught everyone off guard, and it might deserve respect for that. All the promos for the movie painted the Mandarin as such a badass that it was a real right turn when it turned out the opposite was true. It’s understandable why people are upset about the twist but, in the context of the movie, the twist is excellent.

Shane Black goes on to say that if giving a second chance to make the same movie, he would never change the twist. "The minute you start to govern your creative impulses based on anticipation of someone else's response or their expectations then you're going to fail," said Black, "You're going to fail them too." As a film fan, that’s a comforting response to hear. As long as it works for the story, then go ahead and twist it like a pretzel. You can’t please everyone.

How do you feel about Shane Black’s answer? Are you still sore about the twist or are you over it by this point? Sound off in the comments below.

When adapting a character as iconic as Lester Dent's Doc Savage, the temptation is always present to update said hero for a more modern age. But, like any true fan worth their salt, co-writer/director Shane Black knows that Clark Savage Jr. isn't one of those characters you bring into a more modern context. The reason is simply because he was one of the first of his kind, and truly a product of his time.

Black addressed the matter during a recent interview with IGN, as The Nice Guys director and co-writer drew his big and bold line in the sand for his involvement with the Dwayne Johnson franchise started. Shane Black's explanation dictates the following terms:

You have to admire an artist that can stick to their guns like Shane Black can, as his prowess with the pen and the director's chair have proven to be consistently rewarding for the audiences that take a gamble with his work. And certainly, Black's recent remarks about how studio tampering altered his original approach to Iron Man 3 have refreshed his attitude towards how much of his creative vision makes it onto the screen. While Marvel may have had their say with his entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you can bet that the man who brought us Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang will take advantage of the lack of that same oversight with Doc Savage. So rather than adapting a classic pulp hero for a more modern sensibility, Black can focus on the most important part to any film adaptation: getting the character right.

As the Doc Savage series is both older and more obscure than the comic book superheroes being adapted for the screen today, Shane Black could be assumed to pretty much has carte blanche when it comes to the big decisions being made behind the scenes. With a lower budget, and a more focused demographic to cater to, the adventures of the jack of all trades adventure enthusiast can be as unique as they always have been. Though, to be fair, Doc Savage has always been a harder sell with modern audiences, so rather than focusing on producing a four-quadrant hit for all audiences, those involved creatively would be better served to make the best product they can and to sell said product on its own merits. Oh, and the fact that landing Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Doc Savage himself helps a lot in marketing this flick as well.

Shane Black's unique sense of action and dialogue are just what Doc Savage needs in order to appeal to a modern audience, so the source material really doesn't need to be altered too much from its original content. We'll have to wait and see what his initial draft with The Nice Guys co-writer Anthony Bagarozzi produces, as they are already hard at work on bringing Doc into fruition as we speak. Though you can always show your support by throwing some money towards their current project, The Nice Guys, which is in theaters now. 

The superhero genre is about to go back to its roots in a major way. With the announcement of a Doc Savage movie, the genre will soon explore a pulp novel whose traits, personality and adventures laid the groundwork for the cape-clad heroes that would follow him for decades. As if that news isn’t great enough, we also have learned that none other than walking human charisma machine Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will front the whole affair.

All that being said, not everyone knows that much about Doc Savage. Sure, he’s got a badass name, but is The Rock really the right performer to take on such an iconic yet underexplored character? We definitely think so. We’ve gone through the Doc Savage lore, as well as The Rock’s own career, and come up with six major reasons why he’s the perfect actor to bring Doc Savage to a modern, mainstream audience. Now let’s get started with the most obvious reason of them all…

Doc Savage Is A Physical Specimen

Out of all the reasons why The Rock is perfect for the role of Doc Savage, this one should be the most readily obvious. Much like Dwayne Johnson, Doc Savage is a physical specimen who has trained himself from birth to possess physical strength and stamina at the peak of human abilities. The character has most often been depicted as a bronze-skinned, muscle-bound mountain of a man, and no modern action star fits that description better than the former wrestler turned cinematic hero. Over the last two decades, the actor has made a name for himself by inhabiting heroes who can overcame immense physical obstacles by looking them dead in the eye and meeting the challenge head on, while looking the part the entire time; Doc Savage could represent the pinnacle of that ideal for The Rock’s career.

He Has Brains To Match His Brawn

However, it’s not just the muscles that make the man. In addition to Doc Savage’s insane physical abilities and stature, he also possesses unparalleled mental abilities as well. In the same vain of characters like Batman and Sherlock Holmes, he has trained his mind to pull off immense feats of deduction and analysis, and has studied nearly all forms of criminology and science to the point of mastery. In a similar fashion, The Rock has almost never played an everyman throughout the course of his career; he has made a name for himself by portraying characters who are experts in everything from law enforcement, from search and rescue to espionage. To see The Rock’s version of Doc Savage solving crimes with his brain and fists would feel incredibly fitting for both the actor and the character.

Doc Savage Lives By A Specific Code

Like so many superheroes who would follow in his footsteps, Doc Savage represents the ideal of a hero who abides by a very specific code of ethics. He’s a man who has vowed to use his incredible abilities to responsibly defend those who cannot defend themselves and never profit from his victories, Most depictions of the character even show him refusing to take the life of an enemy unless absolutely necessary. The Rock has similarly made a career out of portraying heroes who represent the qualities of lawful goodness (Walking Tall, anyone?) and he has built a career out of heroic characters that face off against the absolute evils of the world.

His Adventures Are Outlandish, But Not Full-Blown Fantasy

One of the most interesting things about Doc Savage’s adventures is that even the most fantastical elements are often explained away through science instead of fantasy. Although many of his stories begin with the looming threat of a monster or fantastical event, when the smoke clears, Savage often manages to deduce something like an undersea creature is actually an advanced submarine, or a giant airborne monster turns out to be a zeppelin. In a similar manner to the James Bond franchise, many of Savage’s stories involve technologies that, while perhaps not real, are grounded in scientific principle. This seems like a natural fit for an actor like The Rock, whose outlandish disaster films like San Andreas still provide a logical, scientific basis for how an insane natural event could potentially occur.

Doc Savage Helped Create The Superhero Archetype

Doc Savage’s nickname in his original stories saw him referred to as the "Man of Bronze," and from these pulp stories, men like Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster would go on to incorporate traits of Savage into their very own Man of Steel a.k.a Superman. If you examine the traits present in just about any iconic superhero, you’ll find that they all possess elements that we can trace back to the original, Doc Savage. Although The Rock will soon enter the superhero genre in earnest with his portrayal of Black Adam in Shazam, Doc Savage represents another opportunity to honor the roots of the genre as a whole. He similarly did this with 2014’s Hercules, which told the story of another iconic hero whose strength, courage and abilities would eventually go on to lay the groundwork of what we expect from any modern superhero story.

This Version of Doc Savage Is A "Weirdo"

Above all else, The Rock is a better fit for a Doc Savage movie than any other modern action icon because this version of the Man of Bronze will reportedly be a "weirdo." As a character trained and raised to physical and mental perfection, Doc Savage had minimal time to really get the gist of proper social skills or human interaction. Dwayne Johnson and director Shane Black seek to capitalize on that trait by letting The Rock flex his proven humor muscles by showing a great hero who’s not so great when it comes to things like simple conversation and proper etiquette. He’s an actor who has proven time and time again that he has enough charm and comedic timing to carry an entire franchise, so we believe wholeheartedly that The Rock is perfect to nail this particular aspect of Doc Savage’s absurdly oddball persona.

Dwayne Johnson is in every single modern Hollywood movie. Okay, that’s perhaps a bit of an overstatement, but the fact remains that the man has become one of the hardest working action stars in the industry. The Rock has had a hand in some of the largest contemporary blockbuster franchises imaginable, and he’s far from done picking up up new projects for himself. We’ve just learned that he has signed on to play a new superhero – and in his own words, it’s one of his weirdest projects to date.

Dwayne Johnson has just taken to his personal Facebook account to announce that he has teamed up with writer/director Shane Black for an upcoming Doc Savage movie. Despite Johnson’s insanely crowded slate of upcoming films, it seems that he has endeavored to find room in his busy schedule to bring the world’s first superhero to the silver screen.

The character of Clark "Doc" Savage is a famous American pulp hero from the 1930s and 1940s. Trained and enhanced by his scientist father from birth, Doc Savage has near superhuman physical and mental abilities, including, but not limited to: enhanced strength, stamina, a photographic memory, martial arts, and an amazing scientific mind. Basically he's the Übermensch personified. The character even served as an initial inspiration for Clark Kent a.k.a Superman, as many of the traits from Doc Savage can be clearly seen in the Kryptonian character.

However, there’s another reason why the upcoming Doc Savage movie has us so excited: he’s totally and completely weird. In his Facebook post, The Rock goes on to admit that one of the most interesting things about the upcoming Doc Savage movie is the fact that, while the character is a physical and mental specimen, he isn’t the most well-socialized of heroes. This seems to indicate that Dwayne Johnson and Shane Black’s mutual knack for comedy will come into play during this coming adventure to show how this character doesn’t fully understand certain normal social interactions.

Bringing Doc Savage to the silver screen could be exactly what the superhero genre needs right now. He’s a character with an immense publication history and an enormous influence over the genre as a whole, but he sets himself apart by eschewing the traditional capes and chest logos style that has become the norm for most cinematic superheroes. With Dwayne Johnson’s combination of physicality and charm, we have a distinct feeling that the Doc Savage movie could represent a watershed moment for superhero movies on par with the original Spider-Man, or 2008’s Iron Man.

Here's Rock's Facebook message, which is worth the read:

We will keep you posted with any and all updates related to the upcoming Doc Savage movie as they become available to us.

If we haven’t put a fine enough point on our feelings for Shane Black’s The Nice Guys, let us remind you that it’s the comedy that more of you should have seen last weekend. Still, there’s no hard feelings between us and those of you who have chosen to miss out on the funniest movie currently running in theaters. In fact, we want to help convince you go give the film a spin in the next couple of days before X-Men: Apocalypse takes over the box office. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 biggest laughs from the Shane Black detective comedy that not only have us still laughing, but also planning at least one more outing to see it again!

Holland March’s Toilet Troubles

Running into the guy that gave you a spiral fracture only a couple of days ago isn’t something that ranks high on our list of preferred experiences. So naturally, Ryan Gosling’s Holland March is more than a bit angry when Russell Crowe’s Jackson Healey shows up to propose a partnership. We don’t know if it was that anger, or just a general sense of clumsiness about the alcoholic detective, but the ensuing problems that March finds himself running into provides one of the best physical comedy moments of this year, if not the past decade or so. It’s also a good reminded of why we outlawed smoking in toilets, besides the whole problem with the smoke and all.

A Misinterpreted Clue

In the third act of The Nice Guys, Holland seems to have interpreted a clue and proven his worth as a detective. It’s the sort of last minute twist you’d expect, leading to a huge break in the case that sends everything down the right path. Of course, knowing that Shane Black is behind this detective comedy, the finale isn’t as open and shut as one would think. Sure enough, the moment our heroes arrive at what they think is an apartment block, they find out that the building they’re looking for is now a pile of rubble. With a sheepish grin, and a sudden realization, our detectives revise their thinking and move on to the location they should have moved on to in the first place.

Blasphemy At The Bowling Alley

While action set-pieces and intriguing detective work are both hallmarks of Shane Black’s finest works, there’s one last component that completes the triangle of trademarks that put a Black film on the map. That piece of the puzzle is snappy dialogue, via one-liners. For instance, there’s a moment where Ryan Gosling’s character ends up losing his cool with a crowd of teenage girls that are attending a birthday party he just happens to be taking his daughter to. So when the birthday girl chastises him for taking the Lord’s name in vain, the response of how it wasn’t in vain, but actually rather useful, is a nice, punchy gag that keeps things on their toes.

Worst Break-In Ever

With any Shane Black detective film, there’s two archetypes that always show up: the smart, detached professional, and the smart-assed dumbass. The Nice Guys is no exception, as Holland March falls so heavily in the latter category that he could make an impression on the sidewalk. Or, in the case of the moment on display, he could punch his fist through a glass window and botch a break-in by getting squeamish at the sight of blood. His overreaction couldn’t be funnier, and it’s a nice prelude to his further injury later in the film – which Holland takes with just as much grace as his relatively minor cuts.

All Of Jackson’s Marriage Jokes

A majority of the funniest gags in The Nice Guys come from the misadventures and total ineptitude of Holland March’s approach to pretty much everything. But that doesn’t mean that Russell Crowe’s Jackson Healey is a humorless drudge. As a matter of fact, some of his funniest moments are when he openly opines on the subject of marriage – which happens to be one of Jackson’s pet peeves in life. His most memorable pearl of wisdom when it comes to marital woes? "Marriage is buying a house for someone you hate." Part noir, part sarcasm, all comedy.

All Of Holland’s Hitler Jokes

Much like Jackson Healey’s running gag throughout The Nice Guys is his issues with his failed marriage, Ryan Gosling’s Holland March has his own recurring subject of humor. Though depending on who you talk to, Jackson especially, the subject of Adolf Hitler may seem like a redundancy when compared to the hell marriage represents the older, more grizzled detective. But that doesn’t stop Holland from doing everything from breaking out into a random speech in German, to making the suggestion that Hitler was just following orders. Let that last one sink in for a moment, and you’ll see why it made us laugh so hard.

Fake Guns, Real Gravity

Rule #1 of Jackson Healey’s "Rules to Be a Proper Detective," is that one should never drink during a case. This is a rule that Holland March never learned, as exhibited during his behavior at the big Hollywood party he and Jackson are canvassing in their search for the missing Amelia. If his biggest mistake was chasing mermaids underwater, in hopes of interviewing them for clues, we might have been able to write this off as his natural clumsiness. But if you’re pretending to be shot by a model’s finger guns, and don’t have the common sense to prevent yourself from taking a swan dive into the ditch below, you probably should switch to coffee for the rest of the night. The bright side? At least Holland found a clue when all was said and done.

The John Boy Shootout At Holland’s Rental

One of the best set-pieces in The Nice Guys was the late in the game shootout between Matt Bomer’s assassin character, John Boy, and our dashing detective heroes in action. If you’ve watched the first Red Band, then you’ve seen the moment where Ryan Gosling accidentally throws his gun out the window of his rental property, which prompts both Russell Crowe and himself to break out into sharp, high pitched profanity. Even after every other effective gag that the movie throws at us before, and after, this moment in the film’s course of events, it’s still one of the most memorable laughs we enjoyed in the theater.

The Future Of The Auto Industry, According To Holland March

Spoiler alert: The Nice Guys central mystery involves a scandal that crosses between the Department of Justice and the Automotive Industry at large. None of the marketing really portrays that, and the film itself springs said mystery as a sort of surprise in the middle of the film. But by time the film ends, and all is said and done, the auto industry is the subject of discussion during the film’s final bar sequence. Which, of course, means it’s time for Holland March to wax poetic, as only he could. His big prediction about the auto industry is that, "In five years, we’ll all be driving small electric cars from Japan. Mark my words."

The Funniest Sequel Bait Ever

Of course, any movie worth its salt, and sporting an open-ended conclusion, has some sort of tag that sets up a possible follow up. In the case of The Nice Guys, the sequel bait is couched in the fact that Jackson Healey and Holland March are now partnered up as a detective team named after the film’s title. This all culminates in a gag that Shane Black loves to deploy in his more recent scripts: a poor facsimile of someone’s likeness that ends up making them look like they’re from another ethnicity. So in the tradition of Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’s "Native American Joe Pesci" and Iron Man 3’s "Hispanic Scott Baio," we’re proud to tell you that The Nice Guys ends with probably the funniest ethnic misattribution of them all: "Filipino Russell Crowe."

Shane Black has introduced pop culture to many brilliant, dynamic duos over the course of his career, including Danny Glover and Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon, Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans Sr. in The Last Boy Scout, and Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. In the writer/director’s most recent film, he introduces us to yet another amazing pair – played by Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe – but could we ever see them come back to the big screen for a sequel? At this point, that really all depends on you, the audience.

I had the pleasure of talking with Shane Black on the phone earlier this month, prior to The Nice Guys’ theatrical release, and one subject that I brought up was the idea of reuniting Ryan Gosling’s Holland March and Russell Crowe’s Jackson Healy again somewhere down the line for a Nice Guys 2. While the filmmaker’s attitude suggested that he would certainly be game for a follow-up, it’s a situation that really isn’t in his hands, and all depends on audiences going out to buy tickets. Said Black,

After the performance of The Nice Guys during its opening weekend the past three days, things don’t necessarily look good. While critics absolutely loved the 1977-set detective story, and Warner Bros. advertised the hell out of the thing, the movie still only managed to pick up $11.2 million – good enough for fourth place behind The Angry Birds Movie, Captain America: Civil War and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. It’s indicative of a problem with audiences than with the film – given that movie-goers regularly complain about the lack of originality and then didn’t show up – but that’s an issue I get more deeply into HERE.

If you saw The Nice Guys this weekend and desperately want to see a Nice Guys 2, there is something that you can do: talk about it. It’s true that there are still many, many big movies set to come out this summer, but enough positive word of mouth can help the detective film gain some legs and prove that the $50 million budget was wholly worth it. We don’t get a lot of features like The Nice Guys anymore, and we’d really like to see more.