Predator: Badlands Director Hints at Star Wars-Style Surprises for Fans

I did not have 'Predator meets Star Wars buddy movie' on my 2025 bingo card, but here we are. Dan Trachtenberg is back in the jungle with Predator: Badlands, and he is openly aiming for something the series has basically never tried: fun.

What Trachtenberg is actually making

Talking to SFX (via GamesRadar), Trachtenberg framed Badlands as a character two-hander that leans into a very specific pop-culture pairing.

'I have made the comparison that it is like Chewbacca and C-3PO: The Movie.'

Inside-baseball alert: he is not kidding. In his version, the Predator — he uses the proper term Yautja — is the taciturn bruiser, closer to Clint Eastwood, Mad Max, or even Conan. Opposite him is Thia, played by Elle Fanning, who Trachtenberg describes as unflappable and relentlessly positive. The trailer even flashes her slicing up some nasty creatures and then popping into frame like it is just another Tuesday. He says that dynamic is new not just for Predator, but also for the Alien corner of this universe.

Wait, a 'fun' Predator?

Yes. Trachtenberg name-checks broad action-comedy touchstones like The Naked Gun and Police Academy as lifelong influences — not because he wants to make a full-on spoof, but because he likes those cathartic, well-timed laughs that break the tension when the blades and plasma casters come out. He is pushing for a lighter, more playful tone wrapped around the usual intensity and violence. Considering how often this franchise has swung from stripped-down survival horror to messy crossovers and century-hopping timelines, a breezier two-hander is... honestly a curveball.

The Star Wars angle, decoded

The Chewie/C-3PO comparison is less about winks and easter eggs and more about energy: one character who barely speaks but does everything, paired with a chatty counterpart who is cool under pressure. It also dovetails with a tidbit floating around the studio line — that Fanning's Thia is a robot. Layer that on top of Trachtenberg's C-3PO nod and the picture starts to make sense. If that holds, it is a very different way to crash a human-adjacent lead into the Predator mythos.

Inside the franchise context

Badlands is the seventh main Predator movie since John McTiernan's 1987 original turned Arnold Schwarzenegger vs. an invisible trophy hunter into an instant classic. Trachtenberg earned a lot of goodwill with 2022's Prey, which stripped things back and hit hard. Some chatter calls Badlands his third Predator effort after Prey and something titled Predator: Killer of Killers — to be clear, that latter title is not a released film, so consider it development noise until proven otherwise.

Quick hits you might want before the next trailer

• Release date: November 7, 2025 (in theaters)
• Studio: 20th Century Studios
• Director: Dan Trachtenberg (Prey)
• Writers: Dan Trachtenberg and Patrick Aison; with franchise creators John Thomas and Jim Thomas also credited
• Cast: Elle Fanning as Thia; Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as Dek
• Tone: Action-first with deliberate laughs; 'fun' without going full parody
• Vibe check: Think a stoic Yautja paired with a calm, can-do partner — yes, very Chewie and C-3PO
• Franchise: Predator (seventh installment); Not Yet Rated; sci-fi/action

Bottom line: Trachtenberg is not just making another 'humans get hunted in the woods' chapter. He is trying a two-lead, odd-couple adventure with a Predator front and center. If the Star Wars energy clicks and the humor lands without wobbling into spoof, Badlands could be the rare Predator movie that lets you grin between the head-rips.