Predators Trailer

You know, out of all the modern day science fiction classics that geeks of my generation love, I still haven't seen Predator. I know! Shocking, isn't it? That being said, though, I can't help but enjoy the story of how the long-awaited third film, Predators, came to the big screen.





Way, way, back in 1994 or so, Robert Rodriguiz was one of the hot young things in Hollywood, thanks to his smash hit, low-budget action films El Mariachi and Desperado. At this time, Rodriguiz got a call from 20th Century Fox. "Hey, we've been trying to get a third Predator film off the ground. Are you interested?" Rodriguiz, being a geek who loved the first film and all it's sci-fi trappings, said, "Hell, ya!" Rodriguiz took a crack at it, wrote a few drafts of a screenplay, and the suits at Fox said, "Are you mad, man? This thing is far too expensive to film!" And that was the end of that.

15 years and a few changes in management at Fox later, Rodriguiz gets a phone call from Fox. "Hey, after those crappy Alien vs. Predator movies, we're looking to reboot the Predator franchise. We found this old script you wrote in our files, and we think it's the perfect direction to go in. Shall we try this again?" And once again, Rodriguiz said, "Hell, ya!" Luckily, "far too expensive" in 1994 movie talk is now actually quite reasonably priced in 2010, so the greenlight was quickly given.

Rodriguiz did not direct this film, only served as producer. The directing duties fell to Hungarian director Nimrod Antal, who recently did the action thriller Armored. The whole thing was filmed at Rodriguiz's Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas.

The plot is this. Several of the greatest killers on the planet -- soldiers, mercenaries, hit men, and even a plain ol' serial killer -- are abducted and stranded on a deserted planet. From an old soldier who's survived on this planet for years, they learn that this planet is a game preserve for the Predators...and that they are the prey.

Adrian Brody plays the leader of our ragtag group, an American mercenary. Robert Rodriguiz regular Danny Trejo is a Mexican drug cartel enforcer, Topher Grace is the aforementioned plain ol' serial killer, and Laurence Fishburne is the old soldier who's survived there for years.

It comes out on my birthday, July 7! Lots of time to seek out the first one and finally rent it.