Dan Trachtenberg Reveals the Real Reason Predator: Badlands Gives Special Thanks to James Cameron

Predator: Badlands is already the thing everyone keeps bringing up, and Dan Trachtenberg just gave credit where it’s due: James Cameron gave him the nudge to push it over the finish line… after first telling him he didn’t think it would work. Here’s the whole story, plus why Trachtenberg parked Prey 2 to chase this very specific, very risky idea.

So, did James Cameron bless it or doubt it? Apparently both.

Trachtenberg told THR he had an early dinner with James Cameron (yes, the Aliens James Cameron), where Cameron basically told him the film’s approach could work. That sent Trachtenberg back to his crew in Auckland with a shot of confidence. He also called Cameron’s encouragement kind of unreal coming from a guy who has made a career out of doing the impossible.

Then, months later, after Trachtenberg had finished the movie and screened the final cut for Cameron, he got a very different confession:

"When I first heard what you were doing, I did not think it was going to work. But holy crap, you pulled it off."

Trachtenberg says either Cameron forgot that early pep talk or he just knew exactly what a filmmaker under pressure needed to hear to get the job done. He leans toward the latter.

• Early dinner: Cameron says the concept could work, Trachtenberg flies back to Auckland energized.
• Final cut screening a couple months ago: Cameron admits he initially didn’t believe in it, but he’s impressed.
• Takeaway: Classic Cameron move — tough-love skepticism and a well-timed boost when it counts.

Why Trachtenberg hit pause on Prey 2

After Prey broke through in 2022 — new timeline, Comanche lead, a mean, stripped-down hunt — Trachtenberg knew the inevitable sequel questions were coming. He told SFX Magazine he really didn’t want to make a follow-up that just coasts on the first movie’s heat. Instead, he went looking for something the Predator series had never tried.

That turned into the central swing of Badlands: the Yautja isn’t the boogeyman this time — the Predator is the protagonist. Bold, weird, risky… and exactly the kind of choice that either crashes hard or becomes a franchise pivot.

So what is Badlands actually doing?

Trachtenberg built the story around a Predator named Dek and paired him with a Weyland-Yutani bot called Thia. That name-drop matters — Weyland-Yutani is the megacorp from the Alien side of the family, which is a fun bit of connective tissue considering Cameron’s Aliens pedigree. It’s a very deliberate way to thread these universes without turning the movie into a crossover stunt.

The date to circle

Predator: Badlands hits theaters November 7, 2025 in the US.