(Updated 01/13/2025)
The PREDATOR franchise has limitless possibilities. The idea of an alpha-hunter from another world preying upon Earth’s greatest warriors is so brilliant that it spawned a series of five films, not including crossovers with the ALIEN franchise. It’s a concept that can slot into many genres with ease — someone could probably make a Predator drama that works!
That is probably not what PREDATOR: BADLANDS is, however. The new movie in the series that began in 1987 is reportedly based around a premise that is very different from anything we've seen in a PREDATOR movie before. And it is not a direct sequel to PREY, released in 2022. It's from some of the same team, but, well, let's talk more about what we know about PREDATOR: BADLANDS.
What's the Predator: Badlands Release Date?
20th Century Studios will release PREDATOR: BADLANDS on November 7, 2025.
Is There a Trailer for Predator: Badlands?
There is no trailer for PREDATOR: BADLANDS right now. The movie has been confirmed as a forthcoming release by the head of 20th Century Studios, and by the director. But no images or footage have been released.
Predator: Badlands Is From the Director of Prey
Dan Trachtenberg made PREY, the Predator movie which unfortunately ended up being housed on Hulu rather than released in movie theaters. But that movie's success led directly to BADLANDS. Steve Asbell, the President of 20th Century Studios, said in 2024 that "after PREY became a success, Dan [Trachtenberg] came back and said he didn’t want to do PREY 2. And we’re like, “What do you want to do?” And he rattled off a bunch of ideas that were really crazy but really cool. We’ve actually done two of them. Two are coming out next year."
One of these two movies is PREDATOR: BADLANDS. The other is still a mystery, but Asbell says we'll see it before BADLANDS. (Probably not in movie theaters, however.)
Who's in the Cast of Predator: Badlands?
Right now, the only cast member we know of for PREDATOR: BADLANDS is Elle Fanning, who plays more than one role. Reports say she plays twin sisters, in fact. Director Dan Trachtenberg told Empire that Fanning "faced intense challenges on this movie — dramatically, physically, logistically," but beyond the understanding that she plays multiple roles in the film we can only begin to guess what Trachtenberg's cryptic comment really means.
What Is the Plot of Predator: Badlands?
Next-to-nothing is known about BADLANDS at this time outside of the fact that the film will focus on two sisters trying to cross an alien wasteland. That's not quite the Old West, cowboys vs Predator story that the "Badlands" title might suggest.
When he announced the movie, Steve Asbell said that BADLANDS "is an absolutely bonkers idea. It is a sci-fi thing, but it’s not what everybody thinks it is. And I mean, it’s awesome. It is so nuts. But in Dan, we trust."
The Predator Series So Far
Setting aside the two ALIENS VS PREDATOR movies, there are five core PREDATOR movies.
PREDATOR, released in 1987, is a genuine action classic with a real claim to being the best film the genre has produced. An elite team of US mercenaries are deployed into Central America in a routine rescue mission. Their operation is slowly obliterated once they realize they’re being hunted by an alien creature bigger, stronger, faster and more equipped than them. The sequels are all entertaining, but the original stands the test of time thanks to a simple premise and the squad of muscular actors who are arrayed against the often-invisible monster.
PREDATOR 2, from 1990, finds warring LAPD officers and gang members suddenly the victim of a much more lethal killer. The move from a literal jungle to the concrete jungle is a natural shift. This sequel benefits from having the feel of a grimy B movie and the budget of a big studio sequel.
In 2010, PREDATORS finally took us offworld to a barren planet that these aliens use as hunting grounds. (These aliens are called Yautja, thanks to the novel "Aliens vs. Predator: Prey" from 1994, but the term has never appeared in one of the movies.) As with most of the movies in the series, it's basically a version of "The Most Dangerous Game," with the connections here being more explicit. PREDATORS features abducted killers and criminals fighting for their lives against aliens who saw them as target practice.
In 2018, THE PREDATOR, the fourth film in the series, was co-written and directed by Shane Black, who had done some rewrites on the original movie and played one member of the mercenary crew. His sequel goes back to earth to pit a bunch of unlikeable soldiers and a young kid against the alien hunter, all amid the backdrop of suburbia.
Finally, 2022's PREY, released only on Hulu, reinvigorated the series as director Dan Trachtenberg turned the clock back to the 1700s. Rather than orienting the story around another group of ill-fated soldiers or mercenaries, PREY follows the collision of a band of Comanche hunters, and one young woman who wants to be a hunter, with the tourist alien. PREY is our first glimpse of what it would look like to see a Predator in the past. Showing that it doesn’t take high-tech weaponry to down one of these brutes, PREY’s protagonist relied on her wits and survival skills — much like Arnold Scharzenneger in PREDATOR’s grand finale.
PREDATOR: BADLANDS opens on November 7.
All images courtesy of 20th Century Studios.