You have to admire the Predator franchise. If it doesn’t hold the crown for Hollywood’s most stubborn survivor, it’s at least a contender.
It’s been 31 years since we first saw the extra terrestrial hunter bounding through the jungle in pursuit of a much younger Arnold Schwarzenegger. But since the first movie all the way back in 1987, there really hasn’t been a blockbusting (or even decent) big screen outing for the property.
1990’s Predator 2 was a bust and while the first Alien Vs. Predator movie was mediocre, 2007’s Requiem was terrible and fell flatter than a pancake at the box office. 2010’s Predators failed to find traction with mainstream audiences and this year’s The Predator is headed pretty much in the same direction. Despite opening number one its first weekend, Shane Black’s attempt to resurrect the Predator property is going to lose a sizeable chunk of change (even after Fox took great pains to keep the production budget modest).
Yet somehow, despite all that mediocrity and failure, the Predator franchise has managed to embed itself in the contemporary sci-fi psyche. Like I said, it’s a persistent survivor.
But now that it looks like the giant alien is owned by Disney, what will be its fate moving forward? Will Mickey be as patient? The truth is that the Predator has been striking out after its first at bat in 1987, meaning it may have run out box office lives. Disney’s current business plan is that it only makes block busters for box office consumption. Sure, they miss every once in a while (looking at you Solo) but not for lack of swinging for the fences.
And the simple truth is that the Predator franchise doesn’t wield a bat nearly big enough to hit the home runs Disney demands from its investments.
But . . .
Disney is pursuing another business platform with as much passion as it’s big screen dominance: streaming. As of late 2019, Disney will be a big player in the streaming game and plans on going head to head with current industry juggernaut Netflix. And the House of the Mouse didn’t spend an obscene amount of money buying 20th Century Fox just so the X-Men and the Fantastic Four could join the Avengers in the MCU. Disney was also buying content for it’s expanding business platform.
Let’s break it down further.
Disney has conceded that it’s primary streaming service will be reserved for Disney specific, family friendly content. Pixar, Disney Animation, Star Wars, some of its Marvel stuff, it’s VAST archive of Family channel and Disney XD programming and so on. It’s a plan that would seem to exclude some of the players already on Disney’s roster (like The Punisher) and many more that just joined the Disney family as a result of the Fox purchase.
But that same purchase means they will also own Fox’s TV properties and a controlling interest in Hulu, one of the industry’s other top streaming services this side of Netflix.
Disney has stated that they plan on keeping the Fox and Fox Searchlight brands intact for the purposes of producing and distributing edgier, more mature fare. That means it may also keep the FX channels to showcase stuff like The Mayans M.C. and American Horror Story, popular content already being produced by and distributed on Fox TV.
Which brings us back to The Predator. The trophy hunting alien has established itself as a cult favourite despite it’s numerous box office failings. And while those theatrical bombs have proven that the franchise currently doesn’t have an audience big enough to support any additional box office efforts, it would be foolish to ignore the fans currently cheering for Team Predator.
Which finally brings me to my point. Disney could easily continue the Predator story as a TV show, complete with the graphic violence, intense action and other R rated content that has been a hallmark of the franchise since Arnold bested the beast in 1987. Keep the censorship gloves off and keep it rated R. A ten episode season could probably be produced for nearly the same amount that Fox spent producing last month’s The Predator.
You could even follow the plan CBS used to promote Star Trek: Discovery last year. Fans were outraged and pundits scoffed when CBS aired the first episode of their new Trek show on their traditional network before migrating the rest of it to their CBS Direct service. It was a bold move, especially for a franchise with such a diverse and passionate fanbase. But it paid off and Discovery is returning for its second season in January.
There’s no reason that the premier episode (or even the entire first season of a Predator show) couldn’t air on FX before moving exclusively to a streaming platform like Hulu (where you can really push the envelope content wise).
One thing I was hoping The Predator would provide (and something a show could give us) is an exploration of the Predator culture. It was vaguely touched on in the Alien Vs. Predator movies and again in Predators, and there was the short lived Alien Vs. Predator comics series published by Dark Horse in the 90’s, but I think a lot of fans would appreciate an examination with more meat on the bones.
While everyone may consider the Predator culture to be comprised solely of hunters, where your worth as a member of society is based on your successful hunts, how many trophies hang on your wall and where dying during a hunt is the ultimate honour, this is also a species that has mastered interstellar travel. And as revealed in The Predator, one that also commands enough knowledge over genetic engineering that it’s manipulating it’s own evolutionary advancement.
How did this society evolve? What role do scientists play in this culture? How are they valued? What motivates an individual to choose one occupation over another? Do they even get to choose or are there social mechanisms that choose for them? What would such a civilization’s politics look like? Is it a caste system?
Since the last two movies have teased the existence of some civil strife in the Predator culture, those last two questions could provide the crux of an entire show. The plot could centre on both the formation and the foundation of such a society.
But we also know that the American government is aware of the Predators and a special division (under supervision of the military) has been formed to study them (and hopefully counter future visits). In fact, at the end of The Predator a rogue alien gifts the human race an advanced exoskeleton to combat future Predator incursions. A show that balances a further exploration of that shadowy government department (which plays by some very shady ethical and legal rules) and a deeper look at a divided Predator culture could work quite nicely. Especially if you could convince Olivia Munn and Boyd Hollbrook to reprise their roles from the most recent movie.
Not only would that appeal to and maintain an already decent sized Predator fanbase, but it could also reignite mainstream interest in the franchise. Done and promoted properly, a show could very well generate renewed interest and box office appetite for future big budget movies, financed and promoted by Disney but released under the 20th Century Fox name.
Allowing the Predator to hunt for years to come instead of just fading away into franchise obscurity.
Image 20th Century Fox
