'Predator: Badlands' Interview: Director Dan Trachtenberg

Moviefone speaks with director Dan Trachtenberg about 'Predator: Badlands'. "I wanted to find a story where you could emotionally connect with this monster."

(L to R) Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, director Dan Trachtenberg, and Elle Fanning at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 Hall H panel for 'Predator: Badlands'. Photo: Disney.

Available on Hulu and 4K Ultra HD February 12th, and on Blu-ray and DVD February 17th is ‘Predator: Badlands’, which is the seventh film in the popular franchise and once again directed by Dan Trachtenberg following his work on ‘Prey’ and ‘Predator: Killer of Killers’, and stars Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi (‘Red, White & Brass’) and Elle Fanning (‘Sentimental Value’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Dan Trachtenberg about his work on 'Predator: Badlands', coming up with the new story, connecting it to the larger ‘Alien vs. Predator’ series, making the Predator the protagonist, creating the Predator language, casting Elle Fanning in her dual roles, and what fans can expect from future installments of the franchise.

Director Dan Trachtenberg at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 Hall H panel for 'Predator: Badlands'. Photo: Disney.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about breaking the story for this film, and was it something that you were thinking about while you were making ‘Prey’?

Dan Trachtenberg: It came at the tail end of ‘Prey’. I just started thinking about, what would we do next if we were to do another one? I really felt like, if the next thing is just part two of what we just did, then the movie doesn't get to stand on its own merits. Sometimes, you make a special thing and then part two is just the sequel to the special thing, not a special thing in and of itself. So, it was like, what would be another idea if I was making a first Predator movie again? There was this fan sentiment about the Predator of like, “Why does he always lose?” So that sparked the idea of, “Okay, if the Predator wins, what would be a story in which I could be rooting for the Predator? That led to the Predator as the protagonist and being thrust into the gauntlet like Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Naru (Amber Midthunder), and Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover). You know, like all the protagonists go through. What if the Predator was going through that gauntlet? Then really wanting to find a story where you could emotionally connect with this monster and have a great time with. I did not want to put any humans in the movie because if we put in a human, then it would just become a two-hander again and the human would feel like a protagonist so that's why it became a robot. The idea of a broken robot, like Chewbacca and C-3PO, and then Weyland-Yutani and Synths, so it all spiraled from thinking of “what hasn't been done” in Predator movies and what hasn't been done in sci-fi.

MF: The film has several references to other Predator movies but also contains Easter Eggs for the ‘Alien’ series and the larger ‘Alien vs. Predator’ franchise. Can you talk about the choice to include those references in this movie?

DT: With ‘Alien’ and ‘Predator’, it’s not taking the big action figures and throwing them together, but instead, taking a little portion from one franchise and have that interwoven into the other, to say that's another way of universe unifying and building it. That felt exciting to me. Frankly, it was born out of what the story wanted anyway. If the ‘Alien’ franchise was at another studio, we still would have made this movie. It just wouldn't have been Weyland-Yutani as the company, but because it could be Wayland, it meant that then we could include MU/TH/UR and have it reflected in the father dynamic that Dek has. So, all of that made the movie richer but it wasn't like, “We need to do ‘Alien vs. Predator’ How are we going to do that?” It didn't come from that; it came from the narrative needs.

Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as Dek in 20th Century Studios' 'Predator: Badlands' film. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

MF: Can you also talk about the choice to make the Predator the protagonist of this movie and show his home planet for the first time?

DT: It was incredibly challenging. The language, obviously had to be developed whole cloth, both written and spoken. His face, which was deliciously designed by Stan Winston with James Cameron's input to include the mandibles back in the 80s, is so cool for being a frightening and intimidating creature. But not at all conducive to having a wide range of emotion like we needed in the film. So, it was a great challenge to have to translate what Demetrius was performing into a face that has no nose, no lips, and teeth that don't even let the mouth close. There was a temptation to cover his face up more and have him wear the mask. But I really didn't want to soften our attempt at saying, “It's a monster and you're going to care.” So, we faced the challenge head on.

MF: Can you also talk about the challenges of creating the Predator’s language for this movie?

DT: We worked with a language expert, Britton Watkins, who's both a language expert and sci-fi fan and really developed an entire grammar structure and dictionary, all based off of the physiology of the Yautja from 'Predator’. So, it all comes from the way that we assume the throat works and the mandibles and all of that. It was an entirely custom-made language for the movie that Demetrius and Elle had to learn. I had a script that I could look at, but I really paid more attention to rhythm and emotion, and that things felt authentic rather than needing to know the pronunciations.

Thia (Elle Fanning) in 20th Century Studios' 'Predator: Badlands' film. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

MF: Can you talk about casting Elle Fanning as both Thia and Tessa, and her specific and separate performances?

DT: That was the exciting thing. We've seen a lot of twin portrayals in movies throughout the years and characters doing dual roles, but being the funny sidekick, as well as the villain, typically requires two different actors. What Elle did is tremendous, and I got a lot of inspiration in watching ‘The Great’, where she was funny and there was an innocence to her character when it starts, then she must get really intense and that's what clicked a nerve for me in casting her.

MF: Finally, have you started thinking about ideas for another installment yet? If so, would it be another original story, or would it include returning characters from ‘Prey’ or ‘Badlands’?

DT: I’m really developing both. I'm in this moment now where I was after ‘Prey’, where I was just trying to get excited about a path to take. I came up with a bunch of different paths and in that case, making both at the same time with ‘Predator: Killer of Killers’ and ‘Badlands’. So, now we are figuring out what the next step of some of the characters are. We're also figuring out and have been quite stoked about some other ways into the franchise that we haven't seen before So, all things are being developed.

'Predator: Badlands' will be available February 12th on Hulu and on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD February 17th.

Dan Trachtenberg on the set of 20th Century Studios' 'Predator: Badlands' film. Photo by Nicola Dove. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

What is the plot of 'Predator: Badlands'?

Cast out from his clan, a young Predator (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) finds an unlikely ally in a damaged android (Elle Fanning) and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.