Predators (film)

Template:Predators

"They are the most dangerous killers on the planet. But this is not our planet..."

―Predators tagline

Predators
Cast & Crew
Directed by	Nimród Antal
Produced by	Robert Rodriguez Elizibeth Avellan
Written by	Michael Finch Alex Litvak
Starring	Adrien Brody Topher Grace Alice Braga Walton Goggins Oleg Taktarov Laurence Fishburne Danny Trejo Louis Ozawa Changchien Mahershala Ali
Music	John Debney
Release Information
Release date(s)	July 7, 2010
Production comapnies	20th Century Fox
Country of Origin	United States
Budget	$45 million
Worldwide gross	$127,234,389
Rating	MPAA: R BBFC:
Chronology
Preceded by	Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
Followed by	Prometheus

Predators is a 2010 science fiction film directed by Nimród Antal and starring Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins and Laurence Fishburne. The film is a sequel to the 1990 film Predator 2, although it does not reference that movie's plot and instead has more in common with the original film Predator. Predators concerns a group of hardened individuals with diverse criminal and military backgrounds who find themselves transported to an alien planet where they are hunted by a new breed of Predators.

Co-writer Robert Rodriguez has stated that he named the film Predators relative to how the second film in the Alien franchise was called Aliens. However, the film avoids any mention of the Alien franchise and ignores the Alien vs. Predator series completely. The title Predators is intended to have a double meaning, in that it refers to both the film's alien creatures, as well as the group of humans that are hunted by them.

Plot

A mercenary named Royce awakens to find himself freefalling over a tropical jungle. As he nears the ground, a parachute on his back automatically opens, and he floats down to the ground. After landing in the jungle he is immediately confronted by several other heavily-armed individuals, including Mexican drug cartel enforcer Cuchillo, Russian Spetsnaz soldier Nikolai and IDF sniper Isabelle. They quickly encounter several more people dropped from the sky into the jungle, including an RUF officer called Mombasa, an American death row inmate called Stans, a silent Yakuza assassin called Hanzo and an American doctor, Edwin. None of them have any clue where they are or how they got there, each having woken up in freefall like Royce. Only one thing is common between them — they are all cold-blooded killers (except, it would seem, Edwin). Trying to find high ground, the group inadvertently springs a series of booby traps. The creator is discovered to be another man who lies dead nearby, killed some time previously, seemingly by a high-powered energy weapon.

Continuing on, the group discovers that they are on an alien planet. They are then attacked by quadrupedal alien creatures, which they barely manage to fend off until the creatures are called away by a high-pitched whistle. Cuchillo is captured in the attack, mortally wounded and left in a field as bait calling for help. Royce and Mombasa immediately realize it is a trap, and the group decides to leave him. Royce deduces that they are in some kind of game preserve, and the creatures that attacked were being used in a manner similar to hunting dogs by whatever is hunting them. They follow the creatures' tracks back to a campsite, where numerous skinned carcasses are hung from the trees and a captive Predator is bound to a metallic monolith.

They are suddenly attacked by three cloaked Predators, who kill Mombasa and destroy Nikolai's Minigun. The group flees over a cliffside and jump down a waterfall into a lake, escaping their pursuers. Royce correctly deduces that Isabelle knows something about the Predators that she isn't revealing, forcing her to admit that she had read a report about an encounter with a lone Predator in Central America twenty-three years previously. The report told her the creatures had active camouflage and infrared vision. Royce organizes the group to set a trap for the Predators. Before they can fully prepare, they are attacked by an insectoid creature, which Isabelle apparently shoots dead, only to discover her shot went through a tree trunk; the creature was really killed by a human wearing scavenged Predator equipment, revealed to be a U.S. Army soldier named Noland.

Noland takes the group to his hideout inside some kind of huge abandoned vehicle, where he explains the true nature of their situation: the Predators have been harvesting formidable fighters from Earth and other planets for several centuries, transporting them here to hunt them and thereby improve their skills. He also states that the Predators always come in groups of three and that there is a blood-feud occurring between two different tribes of Predator — the "black" tribe, who are now hunting Royce and the others, and the "classic" form of Predators seen in other films, one of which they found tied up at the Predator camp. He adds that the Predators have a spacecraft near their camp, which Royce is determined to commandeer in order to escape the planet.

As the group rests, Noland attempts to murder them via smoke suffocation in order to steal their equipment. Trapped, Royce alerts the Predators to their location. Noland attempts to escape but is cornered and killed by the Tracker Predator, while the Predators release the remaining humans from the room they are locked in, seeking to prolong the hunt. Nikolai is impaled by Tracker and detonates several Claymore mines attached to his vest, killing both. Immediately after the survivors escape the drill, they are set upon by the Berserker Predator, which targets Royce; Stans intervenes and is slain. As the group flees, Hanzo stays behind and fights the Falconer Predator with his Katana. Although Hanzo wins the duel, he succumbs to his injuries. As the final three group members flee through the jungle, Edwin is crippled by a Predator trap.

Royce attempts to convince Isabelle to leave Edwin behind, but she refuses. Royce continues on to the camp alone in order to free the captive Predator they saw earlier, theorizing it will assist him in exchange for its release, before heading to the spacecraft to escape. Isabelle and Edwin are captured and thrown into a pit by the last remaining "black" Predator, the Berserker. Edwin paralyzes Isabelle with a neurotoxin and reveals to her that he is not the outsider everyone had thought he was, but is in fact a psychopathic serial killer.

Meanwhile, the Berserker arrives at the camp and fights the freed classic Predator, beating and decapitating it. The Berserker then activates a remote explosive aboard the spaceship, destroying it as the ship attempts to depart. Royce, however, was not on board and returns to rescue Edwin and a paralyzed Isabelle from the pit. Edwin attempts to attack Royce but is disarmed and himself paralyzed, before Royce booby-traps his body with hand grenades and leaves him for the Berserker Predator. The latter finds Edwin and stabs him but triggers the trap; the resulting explosion disorients it. Royce sets upon the creature with a crude bone axe after lighting the surrounding area on fire to mask his own body's heat signature, forcing the Predator to switch vision modes and thus gain the upper hand. The Berserker is about to finish Royce when Isabelle recovers from her paralysis and shoots the creature with her sniper rifle. Royce finally slashes off its arm and decapitates it with the bone axe.

Royce stumbles over to Isabelle and they talk for a few moments, finally telling each other their names. The next morning, Royce and Isabelle, with their wounds somewhat tended to, observe more humans and aliens being dropped into the jungle. Royce then tells Isabelle that they will find a way to get off the planet.

Cast

• Royce .... Adrien Brody
• Edwin .... Topher Grace
• Isabelle .... Alice Braga
• Stans .... Walton Goggins
• Nikolai .... Oleg Taktarov
• Noland .... Laurence Fishburne
• Cuchillo .... Danny Trejo
• Hanzo .... Louis Ozawa Changchien
• Mombasa .... Mahershalalhashbaz Ali
• Tracker Predator .... Carey L. Jones
• Berserker Predator ... Brian Steele
• Falconer Predator ... Brian Steele
• Classic Predator ... Derek Mears

Writing

See also: Predators (Robert Rodriguez)

In 1994, during production of his film Desperado, Robert Rodriguez began writing a script for a third Predator film. He later presented the script, titled Predators, to 20th Century Fox. However, the studio turned the production down when they realized that the budget required to film it would be too large, coupled with the fact technology had not yet progressed to the point where shooting the the effects-heavy story would be feasible. Despite this, some 15 years later the studio decided to go back to his script.

"It's the story from that script I had written way back then. They had hired me to write a Predator story while I was waiting to do Desperado back in 1994. It was crazy, this thing I came up with. So then fast-forward to now and, like, six months ago, they found the script and called me up. 'Hey, we want to redo this franchise and we found your old script. This is where we should have gone with the series! We want to move forward.' And that's what we're doing."

―Robert Rodriguez on his original script

Several of the basic concepts of Rodriguez's script were maintained, but the story was extensively rewritten by Michael Finch and Alex Litvak, who dramatically downscaled the production. 20th Centruy Fox originally intended to have Rodriguez direct the film, but on July 1, 2009 it was confirmed that Nimród Antal was officially signed on to take the director's chair, with Rodriguez producing.

Casting

In an interview with MTV, Robert Rodriguez stated that the most important thing a Predator film needed was "great characters so that the audience feels they're going on this journey with them". Cast information was released only a few weeks before shooting began. Adrien Brody was to play a man who ends up inheriting the mantle of leader. Topher Grace was cast as a doctor whose unassuming façade masks a dangerous serial killer. Alice Braga plays a tough female killer. Mahershala Ali portrays a man not afraid to die. Walton Goggins presents a loose cannon of the group. Oleg Taktarov is a former Russian special ops soldier. Danny Trejo plays a hardened Mexican cartel enforcer with dual MP5ks. Rodriguez stated that he had intended to get Arnold Schwarzenegger to appear in a cameo role as an aged Dutch, but the plan ultimately fell through. On November 30, Antal defended his decision in choosing Brody for the lead role in an interview to promote his upcoming film, Armored, saying, "It was a challenge in finding a balance. I think when we cast Adrian, there were a lot of people going, 'What?' But at the same time, if we cast a Vin Diesel in that role or if we cast anyone who is Arnold-esque, we would have been attacked for doing that. So we decided early on to go in a very different direction as far as the casting process, but it turned out fantastic." He also states a point that average soldiers are wiry tough guys, not burly men like Arnold.

On December 18, 2009, Laurence Fishburne was cast for a role in the film. On January 13, 2010, information on Fishburne's character — Noland, a man who survived for ten years on the alien planet — was revealed in an interview with Louis Ozawa Changchien, stating, "It's a really interesting role, quite different from Morpheus [from The Matrix]... A bit shady, crazy, surviving on his own, kind of a ratty character. I didn't know anything about his role, and we all went to see the rehearsal. It was quite a surprise." Louis Ozawa Changchien, who plays Hanzo, also stated about his own character, "I guess he used to be a guy who can murder someone without a qualm, but by the time he arrives to the Hunting Camp, he'll no longer be that kind of person... Those things aren't explained in the script, but you'll get it when you see the movie."

Actors Brian Steele, Derek Mears and Carey Jones were hired to portray the Predator creatures in the film.

Filming

The film was shot on a 53 day schedule. Exterior filming location was mostly set in Kolekole, Hawaii.[citation needed] Filming started on September 28, 2009 and wrapped its 22 day shoot on the Hawaii location on November 1, 2009. The film shot its interior set scenes at Robert Rodriguez's studio in Austin, Texas. The film shot more exterior footage at Canyon Lake Gorge in Comal County, indicating that the film will not rely mostly on CG backgrounds.

On January 15, 2010, Mahershala Ali, who plays Mombasa, stated in an interview that filming on Predators was completed and that a trailer for the film was being developed while they were still filming. "It was a blast. It was an amazing experience. We were in the tropical rain forests of Hawaii stomping through the mud and getting rained on all day and then we ended up finishing in Austin, Texas. I really think this movie is going to be good. They had cut together a trailer while we were still working and it looked amazing. It's a great cast and along with the action elements and the sci-fi elements, and with Robert Rodriguez being involved, I think it's going to push it to another level." The official trailer for Predators was released on March 18, 2010.

On March 12, 2010, a behind the scenes video was released on the movie's official website.

Special Effects

Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. (ADI), who had previously provided special effects for Alien³, Alien Resurrection, Alien vs. Predator and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, were not employed for the creature designs in the film. Instead, Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero of KNB EFX were hired to build the creature suits. Berger, who worked with Stan Winston on the original Predator film, stated that the studio was reprising the original Winston design of the Predator in the film, saying, "We wanted to have the Predator look as it did in the original film. We went back and looked at the original... Everyone's going to be very happy that we've been very faithful to the Stan Winston designs."

Deleted Scenes

See: Predators deleted scenes

Release and Reception

The film was released on July 9, 2010. The film grossed roughly $127,200,000 at the box office compared to its $40,000,000 budget, making it a success. It is also the highest grossing Predator movie out of the trilogy (not counting the Alien vs. Predator cross-overs).

It currently has a 64% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

It was announced on March 3, 2010 that Robert Rodriguez and Nimród Antal would reveal a "first look" at Predators at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas on March 12 at 10:15pm. Rodriguez expressed his excitement about the event, saying, “My director Nimród Antal and I are excited to bring this first look at Predators to Austin’s SXSW Film Festival, an event that’s become vital to the film making scene. Austin is my home and I’m proud that Predators was conceived and filmed here.” After the Predators film was released, IGN interviewed Robert Rodriguez about possibly making a sequel. Here is what he had to say.

"[The studio] said, 'Let's do some other ones. What other story ideas do you have?'" says the filmmaker. "Because it was like, let's test out the market with this one. They really wanted it to be pretty contained, pretty scaled-back. They didn't want to put too many of the ideas into it that we could save for a second one. So we could see what the appetite was, because the bigger movie would actually be what comes following that. That kind of sets up a new storyline, new location and world, and then you can really go crazy from there."

Merchandising

Comics

A four issue tie-in Predators comic book by Dark Horse Comics was released on June 9, 2010 to promote the release of the movie. The comic series served as a prequel to the events depicted in the film, containing two individual stories, and was followed by a single issue comic book adaptation and a single issue comic book sequel to the film, as well. These comics showed more backstory on the characters Royce, Noland and Isabelle than was depicted in the film. One of the prequel stories follows a team of Navy SEALs in the midst of a firefight when suddenly they awaken to find themselves in a new and more deadly environment being stalked by a strange enemy. One by one these special-ops officers are killed by the unseen threat, until only one man remains, encountering a human survivor on the game preserve planet. The other features the exploits of a human mercenary on dangerous assignments which garner the attention of watching Predators, who select him for transportation to the hunt on the game preserve.

Video games

Downloadable games publisher Chillingo has secured a licensing agreement with Fox Digital Entertainment to publish the official Predators video game for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad through Apple's App Store. The game was developed by independent game developer Angry Mob Games and was made available in time for the film's theatrical release. A second mobile game developed and published by Gameloft followed.

Action figures

On 9 June 2010, NECA released the Classic Predator, Falconer Predator and Berserker Predator action figures. There is also a Hot Toys line coming up soon.

Sequel

Nimród Antal has discussed a sequel and said he would love to do one. Rodriguez has said that he has interest in a sequel because of the large number of potential ideas the Predator planet setting provides, and has also proposed a prequel movie may be possible.

"There are so many great ideas... Just following Laurence Fishburne's character (Noland) around in a prequel would be a great movie. Just the tales he tells in this movie alone, I want to see those experiences... That's why I wasn't precious even about the original script I had, because once you come up with the idea of a Predator Planet, that Predators use as their hunting grounds and humans are involved somehow, the story ideas that you can come up with are so numerous that you can come up with any approach. So we already have several ideas that we can go with for a sequel. They would all be good ideas but we would probably put them together to see which one rises to the top, if we made another one."

―Robert Rodriguez on sequel ideas

Rodriguez later stated that he viewed a sequel as a chance to "really go crazy" with the "new storyline, new location and world" that Predators had set up, and confirmed that 20th Century Fox was at least considering creating a sequel.

In 2014, it was announced that Shane Black has been signed on to direct a fourth Predator film, as yet untitled, from a script by Fred Dekker based on a script treatment by Black. It is currently unknown whether the film will follow on directly from Predators, or be a stand-alone entry.

Goofs

See: Predators goofs

Gallery

Posters

The first teaser poster.

The second teaser poster.

The third teaser poster.

The fourth teaser poster.

Thermal Vision Poster

See Also

• Predators (soundtrack) — The soundtrack to the film by John Debney.
• Predators (prequel comic) — A comic book prequel to the film.
• Predators: Beating the Bullet — A comic book adaptation of the film.
• Predators (video game) — The first of two mobile games based on the film.
• Predators (Gameloft) — The second mobile game based on the film.

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