Dan Trachtenberg continues to bring new life to the Yautja. Predator: Badlands, the second installment in the sci-fi franchise to be directed by him, is about to set an incredible opening weekend record, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down.
The film arrived in theatres this week, and as of today, Sunday, November 9, Predator: Badlands has earned the highest-grossing first weekend for the property. Yes, that means it's done better than the 1987 original starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as the 1990 sequel led by Danny Glover, 2010's Predators and 2018's The Predator.
At time of writing, per The Hollywood Reporter, Badlands is expected to gross between $36 and $38.5 million for its initial weekend in cinemas in the US, and around $80 million worldwide, quite literally running through all prior Yautja-centred Predator flicks. If the production lands on the upper end of that scale, it'll dethrone Alien vs. Predator as the biggest opening across both mainline and crossover installments.
Elle Fanning heads up Badlands, as a Weyland-Yutani synth who buddies up with a young Yautja to survive the harsh landscape of a far off planet. It’s the second Predator film not to be set on Earth, after Predators, and telling another fresh story seems to have worked in peaking curiosity.
What helps even more is Trachtenberg injected new life into the franchise with Prey in 2022, taking a historical angle as a young Comanche woman, portrayed by Amber Midthunder, must defend her tribe from an encroaching extraterrestrial threat. Prey released straight onto Disney Plus, a move widely considered short-sighted given how good it is.
Disney and 20th Century Pictures have learned their lesson, it seems. Predator: Badlands is in theatres now, if you fancy seeing the apex hunter up close.
If you've already seen it, our Predator: Badlands ending explained will help break it down for you, and we have an upcoming movies guide for everything else coming to theatres.
