Movies News
Olivia Munn to Star as Scientist in Shane Black's 'The Predator'
The fourth movie in the Predator series is already looking quite different from the other installments. That’s good news for fans of the action movie franchise, which pits an alien hunter against human prey.
A quick recap: the terse and terrific original starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the leader of a team of seasoned commandos who head to a Central American jungle on a rescue mission, only to find themselves hunted by a vicious manhunter from another planet.
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The sequel, Predator 2, moved the action to urban Los Angeles in the near future, with Danny Glover as a police lieutenant battling rival gangs when an alien predator arrives and starts taking trophies.
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Two spin-off movies were made in which predators battled aliens (AVP: Alien vs. Predator and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem). Then in 2010 came a proper sequel. Predators starred Adrien Brody as the leader of a group of killers from around the world who are kidnapped and shipped to a jungle planet to serve as wild game for alien hunters.
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Shane Black, who played a supporting role in the original thriller, came on board the Predator reboot in June 2014 to direct and also to write the treatment (similar to a blueprint) for the movie. His longtime friend, filmmaker Fred Dekker (Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps), was hired to write the screenplay.
Casting has begun; we heard recently that Boyd Holbrook (Logan) was in talks to star. Now comes word that Olivia Munn is in negotiations to join the cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter. If things work out, she will play a scientist. Reportedly, Holbrook will portray a Special Forces commando and the movie itself will be set in suburbia. The setting will obviously open up opportunities for Black’s trademark light comedy to go along with what we hope will be terrific action sequences.
The movie aims to begin production in February 2017. The Predator is scheduled for release on February 9, 2018.