This just broke over at TheWrap:
Shane Black is attached to direct a reboot of the classic 80s action movie Predator for 20th Century Fox, an individual familiar with the project has told TheWrap.
Black will co-write a treatment for the film with Monster Squad director Fred Dekker, who will then write the screenplay himself.
John Davis will produce under his Davis Entertainment banner.
This is unexpected, but not unwelcome. As you may recall, Black has firsthand experience with the Predator franchise: he has the distinct honor of being the first team member to get Predator’d in the first film.
EDIT: Now that we’ve had several hours to react to the news, it would appear that the reaction is not unlike when Rian Johnson’s Star Wars gig came to light. Many of us are elated. The many skeptics are too busy lamenting the perceived loss of an original film, as if a studio franchise picture has no hope of being good or even enjoyable.
Neither Shane Black nor Rian Johnson have been shanghaied onto these projects. I understand that we all want things from our favorite directors, and I get that we all have expectations of what these people will do. The bottom line, however, is that they chose these projects. Granted, they aren’t the little snowflake passion projects we crave, but why should I feel bad about enjoying the idea of a sci-fi/action/horror/monster movie from Black & Dekker (tee-hee)? I won’t yet say that I’m looking forward to this film, but I’m definitely intrigued.
EDIT 2: Today’s story from Collider contains confirmation from Black himself that the project is indeed in the works, and is NOT a ‘reboot’ (ugh) but a sequel (less ugh, maybe)!
Black tells us that he and Dekker see the project as definitely not a reboot, “As far as Fred and I are concerned anyway,” Black said, adding “Why start over, when you’ve all this rich mythology yet to mine?” Black said he doesn’t like reboots generally, but can “really get behind inventive sequels”, noting that he likes “the idea of expanding and exploring the existing Predator mythology, rather than hitting the restart button.”
While this certainly won’t please or impress the lot of you who are unhappy that Shane Black isn’t doing what you want him to, I can’t help but find the idea pleasant. I’m not exactly over the moon about it, but it’s better than a kick in the nuts, and it’s certainly better than the prospect of another Robert Rodriguez sequel (even though I thought Predators was okay, especially compared to AVP and AVP:R).