EXCLUSIVE; 20th Century Studios has engaged 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg to direct the fifth installment in the Predator series. The script is being written by Patrick Aison, whose producer-writer credits include the series Kingdom, Jack Ryan and Treadstone.

They are keeping the plot line under wraps for the moment, but I’m told it won’t swing back to the developments in the most recent film. Fox made its last entry in the 2018 thriller The Predator. That film was directed by Shane Black, who was one of the original castmembers in the 1987 film that kicked off the series and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. Black played one of the team of commandos who winds up being tracked and killed in gory fashion by the extraterrestrial hunter.

Trachtenberg is repped by ICM Partners and Grandview; Aison is ICM Partners and Circle of Confusion.

First, it’s interesting that he’s been working on this for four years and it’s not connected to Shane Black’s The Predator, which was released just two years ago. Also, I love that there were plans to surprise fans in the same way Paramount did with Trachtenberg’s on 10 Cloverfield Lane.

With all that said, several readers contacted me over the weekend to point out that Trachtenberg had previously been announced to be working on a film called Skulls, which seems like an appropriate title considering the trophies Predators collect.

Digging in even deeper, Skulls was not only announced to be penned by Patrick Aison for 20th Century Studios and Disney, but also hailed from Predator series producer John Davis! Coincidence? I think not.
Here’s the logline:

“Skulls will follow a Comanche woman who goes against gender norms and traditions to become a warrior.”

If you want to reflect that against the Predator series, the late Sonny Landham, who Variety wrote in their obituary was part Seminole and part Cherokee, was best known for portraying Native American tracker Billy Sole in the Arnold Schwarzenegger-starrer Predator in 1987. I’d love to think there’s a connection here…

No matter, it sounds like Trachtenberg’s project is still heavily in the works and, while no longer a surprise, is being backed heavily by Fox’s parent company, Walt Disney.

The once-secret fifth Predator has a potentially interesting backdrop that was revealed when it was discovered that the film was initially in development under the title Skulls.

The logline had explained that Skulls/Predator 5“will follow a Comanche woman who goes against gender norms and traditions to become a warrior.”

With the film gearing up for a summer shoot under the eye of 10 Cloverfield Lane‘s Dan Trachtenberg, a new production listing has revealed more details about the Comanche tribe and the young woman who will become a warrior.

“The story will follow Kee, a Comanche woman who goes against gender norms and traditions to become a warrior.

“Many years ago – in a time before any Europeans had ever encroached on their lands – the Comanche people had a well-defined society and gender norms. Kee is very close to her younger brother, Taabe, who is being groomed as a leader. As capable as any young man in the tribe, Kee has always been a teacher and source of inspiration for Taabe. In the Comanche way – she is Patsi – the elder sister that has helped to shape him. Kee is a truth-teller and has insight that others do not. A tomboy, she wants to prove herself in the masculine world of the Comanche.

“When danger threatens them all – Kee sets out to prove that she is as capable as any young warrior.”

Is that danger a Predator or Predators…?

With filming set for May 2021 in Calgary, Canada, expect some casting news in the coming weeks.

The details were shared by AvP Galaxy from a recent Production Weekly listing.