Predator: Badlands — Everything we know so far

Image: © 20th Century Studios (2025) / Fair Use for review and commentary purposes

Dan Trachtenberg, the acclaimed director of Prey (2022), returns in 2025 with another chapter in the Predator saga. The film is titled Predator: Badlands and is set to fundamentally change the mythology of the most famous intergalactic hunter. This time, the focus is not on humans, but on the Predator itself. The story follows a young Yautja named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), who is considered an outsider on his home planet. After a failed hunting mission, he is abandoned in the eponymous Badlands. There he encounters the android Thia (Elle Fanning), who initially fights him before they are forced to form an alliance. Together, they search for the “ultimate opponent” while learning to understand each other. In doing so, the film reverses the classic pattern of the series. This time, the Predator is the hunted, not the hunter. Trachtenberg describes Badlands as a mixture of science fiction western and apocalyptic film, inspired by The Road Warrior (1981), The Book of Eli (2010), and even the video game Shadow of the Colossus (2005). To capture the dusty, expansive look of an alien world, most of the film was shot in the vast landscapes of New Zealand. One of the biggest surprises: there are no human characters this time around. The screenplay, written by Trachtenberg and Patrick Aison, focuses entirely on the alien culture of the Yautja. A separate language was even developed for this purpose, which the actors had to memorize. According to Trachtenberg, the film aims to “show what it means to be a Predator — without human translators.” Fans will prick up their ears: the logo of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation appears in a trailer shot — a clear reference to the Alien universe. According to the director, however, this is not intended to be a direct crossover, but rather an “organic hint” that both worlds could exist. Although the film is expected to receive a PG-13 rating, it is not intended to appear tame. According to the crew, the fights are “brutal, just different.” There is no red human blood, but plenty of metallic, green, and black fluid from machines and aliens. Visually, Badlands relies on a combination of practical mask effects and sophisticated CGI. Trachtenberg placed great importance on making the creatures appear “tangible.” Elle Fanning had to play several scenes “without legs” because her character, Thia, is a damaged android who repairs herself in the film. To achieve this, Fanning wore blue leg cuffs and was sometimes moved around the set on an improvised wheelbarrow. In addition, several “dolls” of her were built to make close-ups more realistic. Fanning herself found this “both creepy and cool.” Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, on the other hand, learned the specially developed Yautja language, which is based on click and hissing sounds. According to him, it felt “like trying to start a motorcycle with your vocal cords.”

Image: © 20th Century Studios (2025) / Fair Use for review and commentary purposes

Predator: Badlands will be released on November 7th, 2025, in the U.S. and shortly thereafter in Europe. The film was deliberately set in the distant future so as not to clash with the previous installments. It is once again being produced by 20th Century Studios, which was also responsible for Prey. After years of fluctuating quality within the franchise, Badlands seems to be taking the risk of completely reversing the perspective. Instead of another manhunt, the film tells a story of exclusion, survival, and identity — from the perspective of a monster that becomes an outsider itself.

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