Predator: Badlands was always going to be a big deal, but now we know just how big a deal it is. Unlike its predecessor, Prey, Dan Trachtenberg’s third addition to the sci-fi action franchise has been another huge hit with critics and audiences, and now it looks set to shatter the previous best opening weekend for a Predator movie.
Predator: Badlands needed to beat $24.6 million to become the highest grossing movie in the franchise, discounting the Alien vs. Predator films. However, at time of writing, it looks like Badlands will end the weekend on $40 million domestically, meaning if strong word of mouth has helped to push a few more bums on seats to the tune nad help it surpass even the 2004 crossover movie’s $38.2 haul.
Currently, the movie holds an 85% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is good, but that is not the story. The real review story is that the audience rating is currently on 96%, over 20% higher than Prey’s 74% and almost 10% higher than even the original 1987 movie with its 87% score. Based on this, Dan Trachtenberg has not only revived a franchise that was failing to capture its original glory, but he has elevated it to more than it ever was. That makes the decision to send Prey to Disney+ in 2022 even worse.
‘Prey’ Should Have Been Given a Theatrical Release
Many of the biggest movie studios have been around for a long time, yet their decision-making is questionable at times. This year, Sony Pictures managed to hand over one of the biggest movies of the decade when they gifted KPop Demon Hunters to Netflix as part of a content deal, and have potentially lost billions in the process. In 2022, Disney made the decision to send a surprise Predator prequel straight to streaming.
Prey was an instant hit on Disney+, both in its excellent reviews and viewership, and suddenly everyone wanted to know why the film was not given a chance to really shine in cinemas. Yes, there was the whole Covid thing, but in the main, the problem with Prey was that no one at Disney clearly had the vision to think outside their need to pump content into Disney+ and, like many studios, had lost focus on what makes a good theatrical blockbuster.
Even though Trachtenberg’s second contribution to the Predator franchise, Killer of Killers, also went to streaming, Badlands is the first Predator movie in 7 years to be released in cinemas. If there was ever an “I told you so” moment, then Trachtenberg is getting his right now. What is more, the runaway success of Badlands could be just what was needed to continue a barely veiled plan to bring together Predators and Aliens again. Badlands lays the groundwork, and in broad terms is a crossover movie, and with Alien: Romulus and Alien: Earth having delivered the kind of Xenomorph action that seemed impossible just a few years ago, it seems like there are some good times ahead for fans of both franchises. And to think many people believed Disney’s takeover of Fox would be the death of all the IPs they acquired, like Alien and Predator.
Is ‘Alien vs Predator’ Rematch Back on the Cards?
In some ways, it has already happened. Predator: Badlands has several Easter eggs and connections to the Alien franchise, but that doesn’t mean we will get another straight-up Alien vs Predator rematch. Dan Trachtenberg has proven that bringing back the Predator franchise relied on not retreading old ground, and bringing something new, unseen, and exciting to the franchise.
Now that both the Predator and Alien sagas are big players again, it seems likely that a new full crossover event will happen at some point, but fans should not expect it to take the form of the last attempts in the 00s. Trachtenberg, Noah Hawley (Alien: Earth), and Fede Álvarez (Alien: Romulus) have delivered popular new entries by subverting expectations. Chances are, if any of them are involved in a future crossover, the same will go for that.
- Release Date
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November 5, 2025
- Runtime
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107 minutes
- Producers
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Brent O’Connor, John Davis, Marc Toberoff, Dan Trachtenberg, Ben Rosenblatt
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Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
Dek / Father
