The Untold Truth Of The Predator Film Series

When a movie becomes iconic, it's difficult to imagine it going by any name other than its final title. It's hard to conceive, for instance, of Back to the Future carrying any of the other titles thrown around for that Robert Zemeckis movie, like Space Man from Pluto. The same is true of Predator, which started life as a script that carried a very different title to its name. Initially, the project was entitled Hunter, with Primevil and Alien Hunter also functioning as working titles for the endeavor. It was one of many differences between the first draft of Predator and the final product, which also extended to the appearance of the titular alien.

The name Hunter is a far cry from the film's final title. However, it does feel fitting enough for the motion picture to feel adjacent to Predator. After all, both titles are one-word creations that make it clear that the titular alien is looking to gruesomely take down the human characters. They also work in referring to either the aliens or the enduring humans. Eventually, though, the people behind this Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi feature opted to go in a different direction and changed the film's title to Predator. An unforgettable movie title was born, though the world was robbed of the chance of seeing future films entitled Hunters and The Hunter.

Peter Cullen has done a number of famous roles as a voice actor, but his most prolific part came through voicing Optimus Prime in the 1980s Transformers cartoon. It's hard to think of this famous pop culture robot and not imagine Cullen's booming vocals. However, it turns out that Optimus Prime isn't the only iconic 1980s alien that utilized the pipes of Cullen. In fact, the Predator and its famous clicking noise also came from Cullen's work on the original Predator movie.

Cullen recounted the story of how he landed the gig in a 2018 comic convention appearance. He recalled how a bad experience with providing voicework for the 1976 King Kong remake initially put him off doing more monster movies. However, he went to audition for the part anyway and eventually got a chance to see the design of the Predator monster. The repulsive design of the beast intrigued him enough that Cullen put aside his own misgivings to help bring the Predator to life. In the process, he created an iconic clicking noise that could only emanate from a creature this disgusting. Much like how Cullen continues to provide the voice of Optimus Prime, Cullen's voicework for the Predator turned out to be so effective still utilized in the franchise to this day.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the Predator aliens. For one thing, their refusal to kill pregnant women and unarmed civilians show they do have limits as brutal hunters. An even more important misconception is that they're incapable of human speech. This is a more understandable misconception given that the Predator aliens have only communicated in clicking noises, evil laughs and otherworldly grunts throughout their various film appearances ... except for Predator 2.

This is established early on in the film as its main Predator antagonist overhears a human saying the F-word and proceeds to repeat it during the movie. However, the end of this installment proves that these creatures can do more than just parrot phrases they hear from Earthlings. Protagonist Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover), who just defeated the film's Predator nemesis, watches as other Predator aliens take their fallen comrade away. Before they all vanish off the planet, one of the Predators decides to recognizes this human's effectiveness in combat. Tossing Harrigan a pistol from 1775, the Predator then utters the words "take it!" It's one of several moments in this franchise that establishes these aliens as ruthless but also noble fighters.

Thanks to vocals provided by Hal Rayle, the Predators established their competence in the English language. They may not be as adept in it as they are with ripping out spines, but that moment alone should put to rest the notion that the Predators aren't capable of human speech.

Aliens have often been used for light-hearted means in cinema, like portraying cool designs or as a way to execute memorable death sequences for unlucky human beings. But they can also be used to reinforce racial prejudices that reflect both Hollywood and America's tendency to code creatures known as "the other" as people of color. An example of this phenomenon can even be found within one of the installments of the Predator franchise. Specifically, both the Predators and the human characters in Predator 2 have long been controversial for what many perceive as engaging in racist stereotypes.

In his review of the film, critic Roger Ebert noted that the Predators in Predator 2 are "a work of subtle racism." He went on to say, "Subliminal clues are slipped in to encourage us to subconsciously connect the menace with Black males." A retrospective review from Sam Shepards, though overall positive, noted that the Predators evoked shallow racial caricatures. Similar charges of racism could be levied against the film's portrayals of street gangs that are at war with each other before the Predators show up. Shepards in particular notes that, "Jamaicans are dangerous Black men with long dreadlocks who practice black magic and voodoo. Their intimidation rituals are very similar to the way the Predator 'hangs' his human trophies, which ends up perfectly camouflaging the actions of the extraterrestrial and also insulting Jamaicans in the process."

Each time a new Predator film comes up, so does the idea of Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising his role as Dutch. Predator 2 was supposed to feature the action star, but then payment issues prevented that. Decades later, Predators attempted to get an ending featuring the leading man of the first Predator, but it never came to be. Even The Predator tried once more to secure Schwarzenegger, only for the action star to turn down the feature due to his characters lack of screen time.

This tradition isn't exclusive to just solo Predator outings. It even came up with spin-off Alien vs. Predator, which apparently was able to not only talk to Schwarzenegger about showing up but also got him to officially sign on to the project. As director Paul W.S. Anderson recounted to Film Focus, Schwarzenegger agreed to appear in the film but only if they filmed in his house and if he lost out on being the governor of California. When the action star managed to secure a political victory, Alien vs. Predator's chances of securing a direct connection to past Predator adventures was gone. Though it didn't work out there, you can be sure Schwarzenegger will keep getting approached to return for future Predator movies.

Robert Rodriguez broke onto the Hollywood scene with his 1992 indie action movie El Mariachi. Rodriguez quickly became a hot commodity in Hollywood and scored a number of high-profile gigs. These included the script for a Predator follow-up, one that would take the action to the home planet of the Predator aliens. Though it would eventually be used as the basis for the 2010 feature Predators, it took decades for 20th Century Fox executives to see the value of the early screenplay from Rodriguez.

That screenplay came about through very humble origins. "Twentieth Century Fox just wanted a script that would entice Arnold back into the mix," Rodriguez explained to The Guardian. "I knew Arnold personally, and I knew he liked the first film's jungle setting, so I decided to write something with a jungle setting but set on another planet." The then-fresh-faced screenwriter go to work penning up a script, but it quickly became apparent that "it was completely undoable, especially back then." As he explained, "The CGI just wasn't available like it is today. So I turned it in and kinda forgot about it." While both Rodriguez and the Predator franchise moved onto other endeavors, their paths would end up intertwining once again. Years later, at the insistence of a new set of Fox executives, Rodriguez finally got his chance to see that script realized as a fully formed movie in Predators.

It took Predators years to go from a script written in 1994 to a theatrically released movie in 2010. Once it got to the silver screen, though, nobody involved with Predators was willing to see its world lay dormant. The Predator franchise had already spawned three installments, so why couldn't it produce even more adventures — especially with Predators expanding the sagas mythology significantly? Just two weeks after Predators hit theaters, Robert Rodriguez confirmed that plans were in the works for a Predators follow-up, one that would take things in a more outlandish direction.

"[Twentieth Century Fox] really wanted it to be pretty contained, pretty scaled-back," Rodriguez said, according to IGN. "So we could see what the appetite was, because the bigger movie would actually be what comes following that. That kind of sets up a new storyline, new location and world, and then you can really go crazy from there." Despite the enthusiasm for more adventures with the Predators characters, those plans for follow-ups never came to fruition. Part of that is due to Predators doing fine but not exceptional at the box office, with a worldwide gross of $127.2 million. That's not the kind of box office that inspires multiple sequels. The franchise was eventually relaunched with a whole new cast and creative team with The Predator, though the Predator's otherworldly canine companions from Predators did reappear in that installment.

The reshoots for Shane Black's The Predator were immense and drastically retooled the movie. Among the biggest changes was shifting the big third-act action set pieces from a daytime setting to a nighttime backdrop. As noted by Screen Rant, early leaked set photos revealed a climactic showdown between evil Predators and human characters teamed up with good Predators. That sequence never made it into the final cut, one of many scenes left on the cutting room floor.

So drastic were the changes that they appeared to take a toll on Black himself. In an interview with Collider, the director revealed that enough material was cut that it left him with a desire to put out a director's cut. Conceptually, it's a neat notion and one that could have allowed fans to see if the original version of The Predator was bad enough to warrant reshoots or one of many gutsy films torn down by overly-cautious studio executives. The idea never became a reality, though, with Black noting that The Predator's dismal box office resulted in 20th Century Fox having no interest in spending the money necessary to finish alternative versions.

When Disney bought 20th Century Fox, they made it no secret that they wanted to milk Fox properties for further sequels and spin-offs. That would inevitably have to include Predator, one of Fox's crown jewels. Even after the box office disappointment of The Predator, there was no way Disney would let the franchise rest. That inevitability came to pass in the fall of 2020, when it was revealed that 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg's upcoming project Stones was actually a new Predator movie in disguise. Considering the positive response to 10 Cloverfield Lane and the unique logline of the film (which would be set during the Civil War), response to this news was largely positive, though Trachtenberg himself had reservations about this leak.

Trachtenberg then took to Twitter to talk about the production, in the process revealing that this newest Predator movie was supposed to be a secret. "This was meant to be a surprise," Trachtenberg explained. "Been working on this for almost 4 years now. I am very sad that what we had in store for how you could discover this movie will no longer happen. It's a bummer. But also ... YAY!" While initial plans for how this new Predator movie would be unveiled got undercut, Trachtenberg did at least confirm that more Predator adventures were on the way to the delight of the franchise fanbase.