The first Predator: Badlands reactions found their way online a few days ago, and while not everyone loved the shift to a PG-13 rating, the movie still has all the makings of a fun action-adventure.
Between Prey, the animated Predator: Killer of Killers, and now this, it's clear that filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg is looking to explore vastly different sides of this long-running sci-fi series. Today, we have an update on Predator: Badlands' long-term box office prospects.
Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers were released directly on streaming (Hulu), so this will be the first Predator movie in theaters since 2018's The Predator. According to Cinelytic (via SFFGazette.com), current projections point to the movie earning $99.1 million at the domestic box office and $154.8 million internationally.
That would give it a final global cume of $253.9 million, and while there is a lot of guesswork in estimates like these, this figure would make Predator: Badlands the franchise's highest-grossing movie to date. That would be quite an achievement, even if it signals to the Disney-owned 20th Century Studios that a shift from R-rated to PG-13 Predator stories is the way to go.
Moving forward, Trachtenberg will hopefully find a balance, which means the rating is dependent on the story being told, and not the other way around.
The trades should chime in soon with opening weekend estimates, so we may get a better idea then of how accurate these figures are. Here's a reminder of how the Predator franchise has previously fared in theaters (the figures below are not adjusted for inflation).
Predator (1987) - $98.3 million
Predator 2 (1990) - $54.8 million
Alien vs. Predator (2004) - $172.5 million
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) - $128.9 million
Predators (2010) - $127.2 million
The Predator (2018) - $159.5 million
Despite its continued popularity with fans, the Predator franchise has never really been a huge money maker. Disney has spent the past few years attempting to resurrect and redeem both this property and Alien, with the latter finding great success with Alien: Romulus and FX's Alien: Earth.
Marvel Comics has also heavily featured the Yautja and Xenomorphs in its titles, delivering crossovers that may not ever make it to the screen, but have still proven an entertaining read. However, we do expect a new Alien vs. Predator movie to head our way eventually.
Predator: Badlands, which stars Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, is set in the future on a remote planet, where a young Predator (Schuster-Koloamatangi), outcast from his clan, finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Fanning) and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
Dan Trachtenberg directs and produces Predator: Badlands alongside John Davis, Marc Toberoff, Ben Rosenblatt, and Brent O’Connor.
Predator: Badlands opens exclusively in movie theaters on November 7 in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, Cinemark XD, 4DX, ScreenX, and premium screens everywhere.