Predator: Badlands Streaming Countdown: When It Drops and Where to Watch

If you like your sci-fi mean and messy, good news: Predator is back, and this one is aiming to shake up the formula. Dan Trachtenberg's Predator: Badlands hits theaters on November 7, 2025, and early buzz says it goes bigger and stranger than most entries. Here is what to expect on release timing, when it should hit streaming, and why people keep bringing up Elle Fanning after screenings.

Release plan: theaters first, then Hulu and Disney+

Predator: Badlands is a 20th Century Studios title, which puts it in Disney's ecosystem. Translation: after the theatrical run, it is expected to land on Hulu and Disney+.

Disney has not announced exact home dates yet, but recent patterns give us a decent roadmap:

- 20th Century movies have averaged roughly a 75-day theatrical-to-streaming window over the last few years. If Badlands follows that, you are looking at a streaming debut around mid-to-late January 2026 (roughly around January 21 by the calendar math).

- If Disney stretches things like it did with Alien: Romulus, which took 97 days to stream, then mid-February 2026 is more likely (about February 12, give or take).

On the digital side, expect PVOD and digital purchase/rental (Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, etc.) to show up sooner, around the 60-day mark. For a November 7 theatrical date, that puts digital around early January 2026 (approximately January 6). None of these dates are locked; they are educated estimates based on Disney's recent release behavior.

Early reactions: a bold swing that mostly connects

Word so far points to Badlands being one of the better-reviewed Predator entries. The film has been tagged as bold, with praise for how it rebuilds the franchise's mythology instead of just recycling the same hunt. There was some initial side-eye about a perceived Disney-ified tone, but the mood seems to have shifted largely positive.

From the trailers alone, you can feel a bit of that Cameron-esque, big-scope sci-fi flavor, and early write-ups back that up, calling out the world-building as a standout.

Elle Fanning is the X-factor

The talking point everyone keeps circling back to: Elle Fanning reportedly carries the movie with a dual role. She plays two synthetic characters who are mirror opposites in how they think and act, and critics are calling her work the film's secret weapon.

• Title: Predator: Badlands
• Director: Dan Trachtenberg
• Main cast: Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Mike Homik, Rohinal Narayan, Reuben De Jong, Cameron Brown
• US theatrical release: November 7, 2025
• Runtime: 1h 47m
• Current scores: IMDb 7.4/10, Rotten Tomatoes 87% (both will keep shifting as more reviews land)
• Expected digital/PVOD: around 60 days after release (early January 2026, roughly Jan 6)
• Expected streaming: typical 20th Century average puts it around 75 days (mid-to-late January 2026); a longer window like Alien: Romulus would push it to about 97 days (mid-February 2026)
• Where it will stream: expected on Hulu and Disney+ after theaters

Are you catching it in theaters to see how far Trachtenberg pushes the Predator playbook, or waiting for the couch-and-popcorn run in early 2026? Either way, this one looks like it is trying something, and that alone has my attention.