The seventh “Predator” film takes the franchise to new places by sticking its two stars together.
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Affidavit: Man accused in attempted murder-suicide at hotel near downtown had 2-year affair with victimDefense to call fourth witness to stand on Day 18 in trial of ex-officers charged in Melissa Perez’s death Read full article: Defense to call fourth witness to stand on Day 18 in trial of ex-officers charged in Melissa Perez’s deathThis image released by 20th Century Studios shows Thia, portrayed by Elle Fanning, left, and Dek, portrayed by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, in a scene from"Predator: Badlands." Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, left, and Elle Fanning arrive at the premiere of"Predator: Badlands" on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Thia, portrayed by Elle Fanning, left, and Dek, portrayed by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, in a scene from"Predator: Badlands." Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi arrives at the premiere of"Predator: Badlands" on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Elle Fanning arrives at the premiere of"Predator: Badlands" on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Thia, portrayed by Elle Fanning, left, and Dek, portrayed by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, in a scene from"Predator: Badlands." offshoots), has the buddy comedy energy that comes with that dynamic. It also belongs to the narrower subgenre of people quite literally stuck together, like 1958's “The Defiant Ones,” in which Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis were fugitives united by chains.movies with a broken android worn like a backpack by a tall and powerful creature as they face peril in a strange corner of space. “The real physical inspiration for it was C-3PO strapped to Chewbacca’s back,” director Dan Trachtenberg told The Associated Press in an interview where he was joined by the film's two stars. “But I think the fun of this is that it’s not Chewbacca. It’s not a friendly, well-intentioned creature, it’s a Predator.” The apt working title of the movie, which will be released Friday by 20th Century Studios, was “Backpack.” For much of the New Zealand shoot, Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi were every bit as close as they appear to be in the film, where the top half of her artificially intelligent character, Thia, was back-to-back with Schuster-Koloamatangi's young Predator, Dek, who is out to prove himself on a hunt against a seemingly unkillable megamonster. “His Predator braids would, like, whip me in the face all the time in our action sequences,” Fanning said with a laugh.“Any way you can think of making the rig, we tried,” Schuster-Koloamatangi said.She said at times her co-star pulled her in a wheelbarrow, and at other times they'd do it on foot. “I would really pretend to be a backpack swinging around,” she said. “We’d have to coordinate our steps, I’d be walking backward and it would be like, ‘OK, left, right, left, right.'”“We developed this system where he wore a suit, but his face was open,” the director said. “And that way Dimitrius could really be driving the performance, and he and Elle could work off each other in moments, though fleeting, when they were actually facing each other.” He said the “whole reason for making the movie was to really emotionally connect with this crazy thing. So it really demanded that we had a different approach,” and that the process “allows us to be far more expressive and do things the other entries in the franchise couldn’t do with its creature.” Trachtenberg, a 44-year-old Philadelphia native, has taken over the franchise that began in 1987 with the Arnold Schwarzenegger original. He has taken it to entirely new times and places, with entirely new approaches.His animated “Predator: Killer of Killers” from earlier this year includes vignettes set in 9th century Scandinavia, 17th century Japan and World War II. “Predator: Badlands,” which he co-wrote with his “Prey” writing partner Patrick Aison, is set in the distant future on a new planet.showcase of the film that one inspiration was the realization that “The Predator never wins.” He wanted to see what that would look like, without making a slasher film. Fanning, who also plays other identical androids, and Schuster-Koloamatangi were two of only three credited cast members. She has been acting since she was a preschooler, and is already a veteran pro at 27, but she's relatively new to franchise filmmaking — 2014's “Maleficent” being the exception — and entirely new to space-based sci-fi. “I guess I’ve always been on Earth, or a fantasy realm,” she said with a laugh. “I think the approach to story and character and the script, it’s very much the same.”Standing over 7 feet tall, Schuster-Koloamatangi was a local hire in New Zealand and a special find for the filmmakers. While there was nothing comfortable about most of the shoot, he appreciated being on familiar terrain.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.WATCH: Spurs Managing Partner Peter J. 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Tony Curtis Dan Trachtenberg Sidney Poitier Elle Fanning World News Patrick Aison Arnold Schwarzenegger
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