Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Predator: Badlands director explains the film’s Weyland-Yutani connection

In February of 2024, it was announced that Prey director Dan Trachtenberg would become the first filmmaker to take the helm of two films in the Predator franchise, as he was moving ahead with a new Predator film titled Badlands, working from a screenplay by Prey screenwriter Patrick Aison (based on a story crafted by Trachtenberg himself). Then we found out that while Trachtenberg was making the live-action Predator: Badlands, he was also working on an animated anthology movie called Predator: Killer of Killers, which he wrote with Micho Robert Rutare and directed with Josh Wassung of the animation company The Third Floor. So he has actually made three Predator movies. Predator: Killer of Killers was released through the Hulu streaming service earlier this month and Predator: Badlands is aiming for a November 7, 2025 theatrical release. The film’s teaser trailer, embedded above, includes an Easter egg reference to Weyland-Yutani, the problematic company from the Alien franchise – and during a new interview with Empire, Trachtenberg has revealed how that Weyland-Yutani connection came about.

According to a casting call, Predator: Badlands has the following 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. We’ve previously heard that the story is set sometime in the future. The casting call was searching for a lead actress who could take on the dual role of twin sisters Thia and 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. These are the roles Elle Fanning is playing, and at least one of her characters (Thia) has the Weyland-Yutani logo printed on her eyeballs.

Trachtenberg told Empire, “I always wanted no humans in this movie, so I thought it might be fun to have the Predator with a robot. Then I thought, ‘I know a company that makes robots…’” So Thia became a Weyland-Yutani creation. The director went on to say that the Predator and the robot make for a “fun, mismatched pairing. One talkative, one laconic. As exciting and violent as this movie is, the character stuff really pops, too.

Are you looking forward to seeing the adventure the Predator and the Weyland-Yutani robot go on in Predator: Badlands? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Predator: Badlands director explains the film’s Weyland-Yutani connection appeared first on JoBlo.


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