Shane Black Directing Predator Sequel! - Part 2

[Deck Rickard]

I feel like the best premise they had (of the ones they made) was Predators. I loved the idea of capturing ruthless killers and dropping them into an alien game preserve. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to have the budget to make it feel as terrifying as it should have been. I remember that trailer where you see a ton of laser sights on Brody’s character but in the movie it was only like one because they apparently only had enough of a make up and effects budget to make like 3 Predators, lol.

I still enjoyed the movie but it could have been so much better. And that would have been a great time to bring in Arnold; he could have been one of the people they captured because he’s killed one before, and you could have had some interesting PTSD stuff going on with him.

 

[Vaibow]

I feel like the best premise they had (of the ones they made) was Predators. I loved the idea of capturing ruthless killers and dropping them into an alien game preserve. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to have the budget to make it feel as terrifying as it should have been. I remember that trailer where you see a ton of laser sights on Brody’s character but in the movie it was only like one because they apparently only had enough of a make up and effects budget to make like 3 Predators, lol.

I still enjoyed the movie but it could have been so much better. And that would have been a great time to bring in Arnold; he could have been one of the people they captured because he’s killed one before, and you could have had some interesting PTSD stuff going on with him.

God that's good... esp. throwing Dutch in there - I feel like old fashioned film making could have made 3 predators feel like many more..

 

[Vaibow]

I like that idea. Thrown in a military room together with no explanation, whilst they await briefing. And as they talk warily they realise they both share an extremely unique bond in that they're members of a very small group of people to have killed a Predator.

That's good.....

I see dutch living in middle of nowhere, in isolation, with a bunker, prepped and ready to go. At times he ventures into society but it's too hard, he breaks down, he begins someone, really trusts them, learns to let it go... then boom, much like 'Bigfoot' a viral video showing a predator makes the headlines and the nightmares become all to real for dutch.

 

[elgaz]

That's good.....

I see dutch living in middle of nowhere, in isolation, with a bunker, prepped and ready to go. At times he ventures into society but it's too hard, he breaks down, he begins someone, really trusts them, learns to let it go... then boom, much like 'Bigfoot' a viral video showing a predator makes the headlines and the nightmares become all to real for dutch.

I like that. At the end of Predator the flipped the roles around somewhat - Dutch started hunting the Predator, camouflaging himself with mud etc - I could see him continuing like that. Living alone in a bunker, hidden most of the time, paranoid that there's another invisible enemy out there. Maybe the compound he lives at would be surrounded by thermal cameras and motion sensors and all that.

I liked the idea of the Predator itself being silently stalked, which was explored to a degree in Predator 2 with Keyes' (Gary Busey) team. I'd have done it a bit different though and have Dutch recover from the events of the original film and, wanting vengeance, take the lead of a new team tasked with finding Predators. I envisaged a new film opening with a long unbroken & tense shot of a Predator slowly stalking a potential victim - as we have seen before - only for it to find the 'victim' is a decoy and Dutch's team have it surrounded.

 

[Vaibow]

An idea I just thought of today, how about a movie of Dutch, now... living as described above... isolated, thermal cameras, bunker, prepped, having ptsd, we have a movie of just that... his mind plays tricks on him... he sees things, nothing is there... kids hear the urban legend and try and spook him, there is suspense and horror, but it really makes you think...it's really a character study of an 80s action hero... once the fame dies down, the ghosts of that era raise their heads... they hold onto it and don't let go... like dutch and the predator... I find that really interesting...

Think of Mickey Rouke and the Wrestler... but it's Dutch and the ptsd of the predator..

We can have a post credit scene or the movie can end with the military contacting him... we hear him on the phone and his face drops.... as he listens in to what we can't and for the first time in the movie, we seen a glint in his eye, some hope......

fin

 

[metaphysician]

An idea I just thought of today, how about a movie of Dutch, now... living as described above... isolated, thermal cameras, bunker, prepped, having ptsd, we have a movie of just that... his mind plays tricks on him... he sees things, nothing is there... kids hear the urban legend and try and spook him, there is suspense and horror, but it really makes you think...it's really a character study of an 80s action hero... once the fame dies down, the ghosts of that era raise their heads... they hold onto it and don't let go... like dutch and the predator... I find that really interesting...

Think of Mickey Rouke and the Wrestler... but it's Dutch and the ptsd of the predator..

We can have a post credit scene or the movie can end with the military contacting him... we hear him on the phone and his face drops.... as he listens in to what we can't and for the first time in the movie, we seen a glint in his eye, some hope......

fin

Something like that, though I'd have it happen in Act 2. Part of keeping the overall story from being 100% grim would be having Dutch learn to cope with his scars in a more healthy manner. Those scars and trauma will never go away, but how he lives with them can be negative or positive. I'd have it split, one half "Living with your trauma means not having to deal with it alone", one half "Coping means going forth and doing something new and positive". In this context, interacting with other survivors would be step one, and actively choosing to help others figure out how to deal with the Predators would be step two. Thus at the end, Dutch is still a scarred and traumatized old warhorse, but he's no longer hiding in a hole afraid of the world. He's put some of his ghosts to rest.

. . .also, I would *absolutely* have Dutch survive the movie, even if it is periodically in doubt. If your overall theme is "Veterans dealing with trauma", the *last* thing you want is for the message to be "Once you have PTSD the best thing you can hope for is to die usefully". *cough*

 

[Vaibow]

Something like that, though I'd have it happen in Act 2. Part of keeping the overall story from being 100% grim would be having Dutch learn to cope with his scars in a more healthy manner. Those scars and trauma will never go away, but how he lives with them can be negative or positive. I'd have it split, one half "Living with your trauma means not having to deal with it alone", one half "Coping means going forth and doing something new and positive". In this context, interacting with other survivors would be step one, and actively choosing to help others figure out how to deal with the Predators would be step two. Thus at the end, Dutch is still a scarred and traumatized old warhorse, but he's no longer hiding in a hole afraid of the world. He's put some of his ghosts to rest.

. . .also, I would *absolutely* have Dutch survive the movie, even if it is periodically in doubt. If your overall theme is "Veterans dealing with trauma", the *last* thing you want is for the message to be "Once you have PTSD the best thing you can hope for is to die usefully". *cough*

I was saving that for the sequel... but you are spot on.