Shane Black Is Rebooting PREDATOR
If you're going to get stuck in a reboot circle jerk you should get stuck in a reboot circle jerk with a guy who really knows how to jerk you off.
I can't believe I started this story with that sentence. I think Google will display that sentence when this article comes up in searches.
Where was I? Rebooting Predator is one of those decisions that feels obvious and boring.. until you hear that Shane Black is directing and that he's writing a treatment that his old buddy Fred Dekker will turn into a complete script. It's like putting a pair of Bad Idea Jeans on somebody who only has good ideas.
Predator fans will know that Shane Black is actually in Predator, as one of Arnie's squad members, and that he has the best joke in the movie ("Jeez you gotta big pussy... Jeez you gotta big pussy"). The producers wanted Black to do a polish on the movie, and they enticed him onto set by giving him the role.
Black and Dekker (!!!) went to UCLA together and Black wrote the script for Dekker's Monster Squad. Dekker is one of the most underrated directors of the 80s, although it's possible that he's underrated simply because his canon is so small. He's also a great writer, and having him on Predator means we're looking at a movie that will likely have a sense of structure, characters and humor. And if the timing works out we'll probably get it just in time for the 30th anniversary of the original film. Get your listicles ready.
Black has other projects simmering, including a new version of the pulp character Doc Savage, but I imagine that this is going to be his number one priority at the moment.
The biggest thing to ponder about a Shane Black directed Predator: does this mean we're getting a Christmas in the jungle movie?
