'Predator: Badlands' - Dan Trachtenberg Previews His "Big, Crazy Swing" [Interview]

With the upcoming animated anthology movie Predator: Killer of Killers, Dan Trachtenberg imagines how Yautja warriors would fare against earthly rivals from different warfare eras. Exciting, right? Well, Predator: Badlands is an even bigger swing. As revealed in its first trailer, Trachtenberg’s live action Predator sequel will follow an underdog Yautja “runt” in a protagonist role, which is newfound territory for the Predator universe.

In addition to sharing the trailer for Predator: Badlands, Bloody Disgusting was exclusively shown the first twenty(ish) minutes of Trachtenberg’s upcoming film, with the caveat that footage was unfinished in various VFX stages. We were intimately introduced to the main character, Dek (played in costume and motion-capture by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), laying the groundwork for a backward Predator experience where we’re rooting for, sympathizing with and explicitly following a Predator’s journey.

The sixth Predator live-action film, eighth if you count Alien vs. Predator crossovers, isn’t afraid to incorporate extended lore. “One of the cool things about the movie is that we’re on Yautja Prime—there’s a lot in this movie from the extended universe.” This is a futuristic Predator sequel with laser grappling hooks and “shinier” technology, built from the ground up. Dek’s spoken Yautja language was developed by the mentee of the fellow who invented Avatar’s Na’vi dialect. “We insanely decided to treat [the language] properly like [Elvish] for Lord of the Rings or [Dothraki] for Game of Thrones, except for those there’s more precedent.”

Truthfully, the Predator films haven’t cared much about continuity. “All the stuff you’ve seen in other Predator movies? There’s no sense of it. None of it was made with intention.“ Trachtenberg not only decided to make Predator: Badlands with intention but also developed an entire language. “I wanted to be very careful that I did not fall into a trap [of] making something more lore-focused than story-focused.“ He joked about franchises tending to go “whole hog“ into entries about Senate trading committees or other hyperspecific elements, where he didn’t want his next Predator film to be bogged down by Yautja cultural weights. “I wanted to make [Predator: Badlands] feel genre, feel very specific, and [feel like] an inversion of the [main] premise—now the Predator is on [another] planet, and he’s going to be hunted by things and has to use his guile to [survive].”

Trachtenberg had precise casting ideals for Dek. “We [wanted] a stunt guy.“ Enter Dimitrius, who earned his role through rigorous physical auditions. “[Predator: Badlands] was a real opportunity because all the other Predators needed to be seven feet six. It’s very specific.“ The filmmaker recalled how lucky they got casting Dane DiLiegro as the “Feral“ in Prey because actors of that height aren’t often trained stuntmen, but Dane was an ex-basketball player with athletic abilities. Dek opened the door further to cast a proper stunt actor as a Yautja, presumably like if Jean-Claude Van Damme hadn’t been famously fired from 1987’s original.

“At one of our castings, Dimitrius came up, and the way he moved just had a great swashbuckle,“ recalls Trachtenberg. “We set up a physical obstacle course, and that’s how we cast him.“ What I would give to see is the footage of actors competing in Predator Ninja Warrior for the lead in Predator: Badlands, but it wasn’t just about agility and stamina. Trachtenberg continues, “I was not prepared for what he does [dramatically]; I could not believe it. How did we luck into this guy?“ The eager actor invested himself in the world of Predator: Badlands, learning an imaginary Yautja language and bringing immense passion to the part despite his face never being on camera. That was a highlight brought upon by unfinished visual effects—we could see Schuster-Koloamatangi’s facial intensity covered in painted dots that would eventually become Dek’s signature Yautja profile.

Now, don’t preemptively fret. Predator: Badlands will feature substantial digital effects because of the film’s otherworldly nature. “Every shot’s a visual effects shot. I thought I had a lot of effects shots on Prey, but this is nuts.” There’s no disrespect to the phenomenal practical effects displayed over the years through spine-ripping gore and fantastic Yautja costumes. Trachtenberg reflected on the friendship he built with SFX wizard Alec Gillis, an influential part of the Predator franchise, who ended up working with legendary creative studio WETA Workshop to collaborate on the “movie magic“ of blending practical and digital designs.

Most noticeably, Predator: Badlands relies on Yautja VFX because Stan Winston’s superior headpieces come with practical limitations. In the facial region, where mechanics would open mandibles and raise eyebrows, Trachtenberg requires more emotiveness, given Dek has infinitely more screentime than other Yautjas. “The cool [thing about] what we’re doing is digital effects are meant to match the suit, not match creature flesh.“ WETA worked tirelessly to make Dek and other Predators feel amazingly lifelike yet fantastical, unlike the head-to-toe animation when you see computer-generated Gollum from Lord of the Rings or other fully rendered aliens. “That kind of [animated] flesh is different than a suit, so [our] face perfectly blends in and matches that suit quality—hopefully it looks like real material.“ But Dek can’t one-to-one mirror the actor’s mouth like Andy Serkis as Gollum or any performer in the newer Planet of the Apes films, given how Yautja mandibles operate differently. “Dimitrius is driving the animation, but … it’s all been very tricky, and we’re thankfully finding our way through it. Whenever Dimitrius blinks, we might want that to be an eyebrow movement … or how his smiles and snarls work with the mandibles different from the mouth inside.”

It’s important to note that of the footage I could behold, especially what was nearly 100% polished, Predator: Badlands looked badass. The opening shot has Dek careening over a glistening landscape shot top-down Akira style, immediately giving Trachtenberg’s vision a fresh visual language compared to other franchise entries, like how Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi pops as a Star Wars movie with unique stylistic choices. An action sequence follows between Dek and his Yautja brother—training battleground stuff—followed by Dek’s prideful desire to select Kalisk as his hunting ground, known as the “Death Planet,“ where he’s to prove his unsupportive father wrong. Dek’s ultimately fighting for acceptance in his own clan, with his own bloodline, and if his fight with Kalisk’s first challenge says anything—where he defends against an onslaught of forest murder vines—Dek is a formidable warrior with everything to prove.

Trachtenberg’s list of influences on Predator: Badlands will have action diehards salivating. “There’s a Frank Frazetta, Conan the Barbarian, Spartan thing … but also you think of The Book of Eli or Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior … Shane, [very] western, very Clint Eastwood-y.“ Dek even starts to resemble Conan or Drax the Destroyer later on. The filmmaker went on to detail how happy he was with Prey’s execution but wanted to push Predator: Badlands even further, and mentioned Terrence Malick when recalling his shooting style on set in New Zealand. “We were out in the wilderness with hip waders, in trenches, with eels, and all that for 90% of the shoot … but things were also augmented.“ Despite Trachtenberg’s moderate distaste for the overused descriptor, the word “grounded“ was also tossed around. “We need a better word than grounded, but it’s hard to find.“

There’s an adventurousness and vibrancy to Predator: Badlands that’s not always present in Predator films. Entries have uniformly been more action-centric than horror-forward, but this continuation feels more story-driven. “I never thought [the Predator] was Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger,“ explains Trachtenberg. “[Predators] had a code [like] hitmen or crime underworld Goodfellas. I felt like there was something cool to explore within that culture that’s different than just adding a bunch of stuff on top of it. It felt like we’re mining [ideas] as opposed to just throwing [more] at the franchise.”

Something we didn’t see was Elle Fanning’s introduction as Thia (reportedly), nor is Trachtenberg ready to reveal her origin. When asked if there would be more human interactions than Fanning, the answer was, “No comment … I want to save the fun.“ In the slightest of expansions, in response to a question about what Trachtenberg learned about developing character arcs from Prey to Predator: Badlands, he commented, “[Her] story [has the same roots but] is a bit different thematically, and starts to go into a different branch of proving oneself.”

As a bit, Trachtenberg asked us if we had theories about Fanning’s top-secret character. A fellow journalist suggested she’s a hunter from another planet. But someone else noted she has an android-esque mannerism and posed the possible Alien tie to Weyland-Yutani. Trachtenberg smirked, chuckled, and gave us a sly, “Yes, she does.” Is this just the tricky lead-on of a creator keeping our minds racing? Or is it unclear confirmation that we’ll be seeing the Predator and Alien universes colliding again soon? “There’s a unique hook to her character that is exciting in the pairing of [her and Dek].“ Get to speculating, internet.

This is a longer quote from Trachtenberg, but I wanted to include it all so you can make your own assumptions as to Fanning’s inclusion:

“As inspired as I am by movies, I’ve been very inspired by video games [like] Shadow of the Colossus, where you have a protagonist paired with someone else who provides color and connection. There’s a thing with a horse in Shadow of the Colossus that’s devastating when you play the game. And so [Predator: Badlands] was a little bit inspired by that in terms of wanting to see the Predator with someone else, this character who’s the opposite of him. He’s very laconic, [Fanning] is not. She’s capable in ways that he is not. Physically, she’s got a real thing that I’m so excited for you guys to see. But I want to let eventually some of that speak for itself.”

While this is a standalone Predator entry, Trachtenberg still can’t help throwing Easter Eggs in to appease franchise fans. Early in the film, Dek is cycling through holograms, or there’s a trophy case that’ll be worth a giggle. Humans being so low on the competition ranking alone has its comedic appeal. Oh, and no, that’s not a Starship Troopers nod, even though it looks like one (we tried).

But at the end of the day, Predator: Badlands is its own movie. It’s not reliant on memorable skeletons, callbacks to prior releases, or a cheeky line of dialogue. “It’s a big, crazy swing, and I think that’s what drives butts into seats.“ If Prey is any indication, that’s what Predator fans crave after so many recyclable hunter-killer redos. “If you want the same old Predator experience, you can hit play on Predator or Prey or any other, whichever one is your fit.” Trachtenberg’s desire to take us on a brand new ride sounds exactly like what can take the Predator franchise to the next level, and I can’t wait to see the result.

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‘Predator: Badlands’ – Dan Trachtenberg Previews His “Big, Crazy Swing” [Interview]

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