Dan Trachtenberg's next Predator movie Badlands reportedly begins filming as plot details surface (2024)

Good news for fans of 20th Century's long-running Predator franchise: production on the next Predator film has reportedly begun in New Zealand. This news comes via AvP Galaxy, a fansite dedicated to the Alien and Predator franchises, which claims to have gotten ahold of a casting notice for a mystery movie codenamed "Backpack." According to the site, the notice has several indicators that it is in fact about Dan Trachtenberg's Badlands, and the idea that it's begun filming is backed up by multiple reports from a New Zealand newspaper about a large American film production setting up shop in the area around Rotorua.

Now, as exciting as the idea of Dan Trachtenberg filming his next Predator movie is, I need to give a very large disclaimer here that the information is not confirmed in any official capacity, so it'd be wise to take it with a very large grain of salt. But it's still worth going over what we know about Badlands, and the details AvP Galaxy dug about about the plot and characters.

There are a few big details we know for certain about Badlands. The first is that Prey director Dan Trachtenberg will indeed be back to direct this next film. In February, Deadline confirmed that 20th Century was keen to move forward on more Predator films with Trachtenberg at the helm. Prey was a breakout success for the studio, earning six Emmy nominations including for Best Television Movie (don't forget, Prey debuted exclusively on Hulu and never got a theatrical run, which I'm still salty about).

According to Deadline, Trachtenberg had signed on to do another standalone Predator film, which is currently known by the title Badlands. The studio was also reportedly interested in making a direct sequel to Prey, with star Amber Midthunder potentially returning as the Comanche warrior Naru. Considering that Prey ended with a credits stinger that hinted at more conflicts between Naru and the extraterrestrial Predators, a sequel makes sense. The report stresses that no talent has yet signed on to Prey 2, and with Badlands seemingly moving into production first, it's likely we'll be waiting a while before we hear anything else about it.

Then in June of this year, another report revealed that actor Elle Fanning was in negotiations to star in Badlands. Since then, details about the movie have been kept under tight wraps; the only other thing we know is that it's supposed to take place sometime in the future, as opposed to Prey which was set during the 1700s. We've had no more official confirmations about the cast, plot, or anything else related to the movie since we learned about Fanning circling the film.

Now, let's talk about the plot details dug up by AvP Galaxy. Again, I'm taking all this with a grain of salt, but it's still worth a SPOILER WARNING in case they pan out and you'd rather stay in the dark about what could be coming in Predator: Badlands.

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Badlands plot and character details hint at dual roles for Fanning

The casting sheet that AvP Galaxy got access to reportedly has details both about the overall plot of Badlands as well as about the twin characters at the heart of the story. Yes, like Disney+'s Star Wars show The Acolyte, Predator: Badlands will reportedly feature twins with warring personalities. Here's the plot synopsis that AvP Galaxy found:

"Synopsis: A groundbreaking film in which one of the two main storylines delves into the intricate bond of two very different sisters, their familial ties are put to the ultimate test as they pursue divergent paths and missions."

The synopsis highlights the twin relationship, but is notably cagey about what their "divergent paths and missions" might be. And here's the casting description for the leads, twin sisters Thia and Tessa:

"[THIA/TESSA]– This casting is for a dual character, and describes both characters. Character identifies as female or non-binary, open ethnicity, mid 20s – mid 40s. Thia has spent most of her life in a laboratory and is now embarking on her first big adventure in the world. She is incredibly smart, witty, enthusiastic, and unflappable. She has an innate disregard for danger, not because she’s fearless, but simply because she’s naive. Strong comedy chops required. // The other sister, Tessa, has a militant intensity when it comes to achieving her family’s goals and mission objectives. She will not let anything get in her way, not even her twin sister."

Beyond the character descriptions, AvP Galaxy also reports that the person who was being sought for the lead role should be 5'8'' or shorter, and "comfortable training for heavy action as well as wearing prosthetics/heavy makeup."

So will we get dual Elle Fannings duking it out in Badlands until they have to set aside their differences to fight a Predator? Your guess is as good as mine! But for now, this is plenty intriguing to hold us over until we get some more details about Trachtenberg's hotly anticipated next Predator film.

In the meantime, you can always give Prey a rewatch! It's available on Hulu as well as on Blu-Ray and 4K UHD, in both English and a Comanche overdub. (If you enjoyed Prey but haven't watched it dubbed in Comanche, it is very much worth the time.) And if you'd rather spend time with the Predator's iconic film rival the Xenomorph, Alien: Romulus is out now in theaters.

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h/t ComicBook.com