2018’s The Predator might not have have made much of a splash critically or commercially, but it didn’t spell the end of the Predator franchise. Quite the opposite, as it was announced in November 2020 that 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg is tackling Predator 5. Over a year later, word’s come in that the next Predator movie has cast Legion star Amber Midthunder in its lead role.
This Predator 5 update comes from Discussing Film, which also reports that the movie is set to begin filming soon in Alberta, Canada. Amber Midthunder is arguably best known for her role as Kerry Loudermilk in the FX series Legion, which wrapped its three-season run back in 2019. Midthunder currently stars as Rosa Ortecho in The CW’s Roswell, New Mexico, and her other notable credits include Hell or High Water, Longmire and Banshee. She’s also starring alongside Liam Neeson and Laurence Fishburne in The Ice Road, which drops on Netflix next month.
Obviously Amber Midthunder’s involvement in Predator 5 isn’t official until 20th Century Studios confirms it, but things do indeed seem to be shaping up for her to take center stage. So what can we expect from Midthunder in the next Predator movie? Well, officially speaking, we don’t know any plot details yet. Unofficially, however, it looks like Midthunder will be participating in a story that takes long before the events of 1987’s Predator.
Back in February, it was reported that Predator 5 will wind the clock back to follow a Comanche tribe in a time before Europeans came to North America, with the main character being a young woman named Kee. Going outside of the established gender norms, Kee rises up to fight for her tribe when a mysterious danger threatens them all. Assuming this Predator 5 premise is accurate, then we can not only presume that this threat is a Predator, but also that Amber Midthunder will play the role of Kee. Again though, until 20th Century Studios provides story details, we can’t say for sure yet if this is indeed what Predator 5 (which is also known as Skulls) has in store.
One way or another, though, Predator is returning to the big screen in the near future. Along with Dan Trachtenberg taking the directorial reins, Treadstone’s Patrick Aison is writing the screenplay. Aison actually already has ties with Amber Midthunder, as he was a consultant on Legion. John Davis, who’s produced all of the Predator movies (including the Alien vs. Predator entries) will reprise those duties for Predator 5 through his Davis Entertainment banner. This will mark the first time The Walt Disney Company oversees the making of a Predator movie, as the Mouse House acquired 20th Century Fox back in 2019.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates about Predator 5 as they trickle in. Don’t forget to plan your moviegoing experiences for the rest of this year by scanning through our 2021 film release schedule.
