When director Dan Trachtenberg made and released Prey, it was truly a game-changer. Here, finally, was a cool, new Predator movie that made us forget the crappy ones that had come before. One that was as exciting and original as the Arnold Schwarzenegger film that kicked off the franchise. It opened all sorts of other doors, too. If Predators were hunting people all the way in the past, what else could that mean?
The answer to that question came in five parts. Four of them unfolded in Predator: Killer of Killers, an excellent animated anthology film featuring Predators hunting prey across time, and the fifth is in theaters this weekend, Predator: Badlands. Trachtenberg directed all three movies, but Badlands is the first one coming to theaters. And rightfully so. The action-packed sci-fi adventure sends the Predator franchise off on yet another previously unexplored tangent. Now, the Predator is the hero.
io9 recently sat down with Trachtenberg to discuss Badlands, including the question of how making the Predator the hero may or may not change the other movies. We discussed his decision to not use Alan Silvestri’s legendary Predator theme this time around, as well as the contributions of James Cameron, Weyland-Yutani connections, and also why, even after three Predator movies, he’s raring for more.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Dek on the hunt. – DisneyGermain Lussier, io9: I noticed you thanked James Cameron in the credits of Badlands. Of course, he was also in New Zealand, where you shot, making his own small, alien-driven Disney movie. But what prompted you to thank him beyond that?
Dan Trachtenberg: I consider myself very lucky that we were making movies at the same company. We collaborate with the same executives, and he saw Prey and loved it. So when we were heading down to New Zealand to shoot, he invited me to Wellington to hang out on [the Avatar 3] set and in his edit bay. And I divulged all my anxiety about making this movie and the methodology that we were doing, which was going to be very new for the franchise and certainly very new to me. Then we reconvened for dinner, and we drove separately. And when he sat down, he said, “I was thinking about what you’re doing on the way over here, and I think it’s going to work.” And that was insane. He put so much wind in my sails to bring back up to Auckland and tell the whole crew.
Then, just a few months ago, we had a cut movie of the movie that was almost done, not quite, and I wanted to get his input before we put the finishing touches on. And he wrote a note back that said, “I have to be honest, when I first heard about what you’re doing, I didn’t think it was going to work, but holy crap, it really worked.” I don’t know if he didn’t remember the first thing or if he just knows exactly what someone in my shoes needs to hear when they hear it. So it was just amazing.
© Disneyio9: Yeah, I think his reaction is the reaction a lot of people are going to have. They’re going to love the movie, they’re going to love the direction you’ve taken. But because we’re going to love Dek too, and now we know a little bit more about the Yautja, do you think that will change what we think about Yautja in previous movies or future movies?
Trachtenberg: I mean, Dek isn’t the only Yautja character that you meet in the movie, and what you learn from this movie, and also from Killers of Killers, is there’s so much variety in the culture and the species. And I think Dek comes from a particularly brutal clan, but I don’t know that all of them have experienced what Dek would have experienced. And you can either decide in your own fan imagination whether or not the Predators from previous films feel the way that Dek feels about things, or do they feel the way Kwei or Father feel about things?
io9: You talk about fandom. I’m a Predator fan, but also an Alien fan, so I love seeing Weyland-Yutani in there. Weyland-Yutani is very bad at their job, right?
Trachtenberg: [Laughs]
io9: Because we know that they had creatures in Alien: Earth, but they lost them. They’re still looking in Alien, they’re still looking in Aliens, they’re still looking in Alien 3. And in Badlands, whenever this takes place, they’re still looking for creatures. So is that something you guys are consciously looking at? Is that kind of a through line in these franchises that Weyland-Yutani has to always fail?
Thia with Weyland-Yutani eyes. – DisneyTrachtenberg: I mean, it certainly isn’t far-fetched to think of a mega corporation that constantly is disappointing in what their goals may be. I think we all can connect to that. I definitely wasn’t consciously thinking, “I need to continue the story of Weyland-Yutani being a bunch of bumbling morons,” but rather the opposite. We tried to show different kinds of synths that they would manufacture, and I think [they were] a little bit smarter this time around, when they’re exploring a planet, to just send the synths in at first before you colonize or send any humans in there. So hopefully Badlands says that maybe Weyland-Yutani is a little bit more intelligent than previous iterations.
io9: I love the music in this movie, but they didn’t hear any of the Alan Silvestri theme [from the original Predator]. Talk about the decision to kind of keep that out.
Trachtenberg: Well, I also love the [music], and I was so thrilled to work with Sarah Schachner and Ben Wallfisch this time, combining forces to compose, who I worked with previously. And two things. One was we had done a riff on the Silvestri theme in Prey, and then in Killer of Killers, in all four instances, we do crazy riffs, and I just felt like we had riffed till the end of [riffing].
io9: [Laughs]
Trachtenberg: And I really wanted to find something special for the sound of the Yautja culture and felt like this movie needed its own identity and its own iconic themes, and I’m certain that after we go a period of time without the Silvestri theme, what will be so exciting is when we bring it back again. So that’s sort of what fueled that decision.
Amber Midthunder in Prey. – Disneyio9: Looking back at your last movie, Naru [from Prey] shows up at the end of Killer of Killers, along with some other Predator characters. When was that decision made? Because I assume when you finished Prey, you weren’t like, “Oh, let’s bring her back at the end of the animated movie I’m working on.” When did that decision come to be like, “This is the next instance of her story”?
Trachtenberg: It actually probably came from dreaming up what we would do next, and [having] these ideas for Badlands and for Killer of Killers and even for a third movie. And part of the fun of thinking of the ending of Killer of Killers, and the thing that unlocked it, was that fourth act, and I think very shortly after that was, “Oh my gosh, then we could reveal Naru there on ice.”
io9: Going off that, how much of an idea do you have of where characters who may be alive or at the end of this film may show up, assuming you got a chance to return?
Trachtenberg: I have a pretty good idea of where things could go, but at the same time have been trying hard to not make decisions based on that. Because truly, as you know, you’ve got to make one damn good movie at a time. So I was really trying very hard to just make sure I’m not hurting this movie by thinking of where things could go next, and [making] sure this is a great movie, and should we do anything else, I will think about it the exact same way.
io9: I know that you understand the insane amazingness that is that you’re making Predator movies, right? But now you’ve made three in a row, and I want to see another one, and so will fans. But do you have it in you to make another one? Do you want to take a break? What are you thinking about the future?
Trachtenberg: I didn’t think I had it in me to make two more after Prey. And the only reason why I really went after them is because we had these ideas that were cool ideas for a movie, separate from even being a Predator movie. There was something in them that were the kinds of movies I wanted to make anyway. Four of them in Killer of Killers, you know? So that’s why I’ve been sticking around and would continue to stick around, because that’s given me the opportunity to tell actually surprisingly fresh and original stories. And the Predator being someone that’s searching for the most worthy prey just happens to be a great fulcrum for emotional storytelling that also has a bunch of kick-ass action.
Predator: Badlands is now in theaters. Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers are both on Hulu.
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