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Interview: Shane Black on the Making of ‘The Predator’

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DG: What inspired you to want to revisit the Predator film series, as a director?

SB: I feel old.  I’m fifty-six years old, and I didn’t see the time pass.  It seems like yesterday I was back in the 1980s.  I was a student at UCLA, and then there was Lethal Weapon, and The Monster Squad, and Predator.  That was over thirty years ago.  What the hell happened?  I was talking to Fred Dekker about this, and I suggested that we should go back in time with this film.  Let’s pretend that we’re making this film thirty years ago.  Let’s make a 1980s war film that combines action, horror, science fiction.  There’s no CGI.  Then we’ll add in the digital effects, the FX shots, later.  That was my vision for this film.

DG:  What is the proximity, the relationship, between this film and the previous films?

SB: The second film happened.  The Alien vs. Predator films happened.  In this film, we see that Earth has noticed that all of these things have happened.  The predators have been showing up on Earth for a long time, possibly since ancient times, so how does Earth respond to this in 2020?  How do we prepare for the next alien incursion?  An intelligence division has been established for the purpose of confronting the alien threat but also for the purpose of exploring the technological opportunities.  Although the predators are hunters, killers, their technology suggests that the predator planet consists of scientists and warriors.  We don’t have interstellar spaceships, obviously, so maybe the predators have some kind of think tank on their planet.

DG: How many Predator hunters are featured in this film, and how have the Predator creatures evolved since we last saw them?

SB: There are two predator creatures in the film. The predators that appear in this film are always deadly, and they’re really fast, and they’re always moving.  There’s a rogue faction within the predator race, and some of the predators are really angry about what’s happened to them in the previous films.  They’re angry because their warriors have, time and time again, been defeated by Earth’s greatest champions, beginning with Arnold’s character.  They’re not happy about that, and they want to punch back. 

DG: The Predator features an ensemble cast, which includes Boyd Holbrook and Jacob Tremblay.  How would you describe the human dynamic that exists in the film? 

SB: Every character in the film is a misfit.  Quinn [Holbrook’s character] and his men are marginalized soldiers, post-traumatic stress disorder cases, who have been written off by society.  This isn’t the crack team of commandos from the first film.  As the film opens, Quinn’s life is in a holding pattern, and he’s trying to maintain a connection with his son, who exists within the autism spectrum.  There’s a science teacher, played by Olivia Munn, and she’s also a misfit.  All of the characters in the film are unsure of themselves.

DG: What was the biggest challenge that you faced during the filming? 

SB: The challenge was to visualize parts of the film without being able to really visualize them.  I’m talking, of course, about filming around the digital effects and imagining what’s happening in a scene while you’re filming against a green screen.  I didn’t want this film to be a CG-fest.  I had to wait for the FX shots to arrive and see if they matched what I’d been visualizing.  They did.  It worked.

DG: When this project was announced, speculation quickly grew about the possibility of Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising his character from the first film in this film.  Did you talk to Arnold about this?

SB: Where is Arnold?  It’s not a silly question, and I understand why people would wonder about Arnold’s character and whether Arnold could play a role in the film.  I did speak to Arnold, and we toyed with the idea of Arnold appearing in the film.  It would have been a cameo role for him, and that wasn’t something he was interested in, so we wished each other good luck, and then we said goodbye.    

DG: Are you planning to do more Predator films?

SB: I am open to doing more films, but I would never make an announcement like that until I saw how this film has been received.  That would be like having the wrap party on the first day of filming. 

The Predator opens in theaters on September 14.  Watch the final trailer here

 

 

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Netflix Releases First BTS ‘Fear Street: Prom Queen’ Footage

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It’s been three long years since Netflix unleashed the bloody, but enjoyable Fear Street on its platform. Released in a tryptic fashion, the streamer broke up the story into three episodes, each taking place in a different decade which by the finale were all tied together.

Now, the streamer is in production for its sequel Fear Street: Prom Queen which brings the story into the 80s. Netflix gives a synopsis of what to expect from Prom Queen on their blog site Tudum:

“Welcome back to Shadyside. In this next installment of the blood-soaked Fear Street franchise, prom season at Shadyside High is underway and the school’s wolfpack of It Girls is busy with its usual sweet and vicious campaigns for the crown. But when a gutsy outsider is unexpectedly nominated to the court, and the other girls start mysteriously disappearing, the class of ’88 is suddenly in for one hell of a prom night.” 

Based on R.L. Stine’s massive series of Fear Street novels and spin-offs, this chapter is number 15 in the series and was published in 1992.

Fear Street: Prom Queen features a killer ensemble cast, including India Fowler (The Nevers, Insomnia), Suzanna Son (Red Rocket, The Idol), Fina Strazza (Paper Girls, Above the Shadows), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty, Cinnamon), Ella Rubin (The Idea of You), Chris Klein (Sweet Magnolias, American Pie), Lili Taylor (Outer Range, Manhunt) and Katherine Waterston (The End We Start From, Perry Mason).

No word on when Netflix will drop the series into its catalog.

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Live Action Scooby-Doo Reboot Series In Works at Netflix

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Scooby Doo Live Action Netflix

The ghosthunting Great Dane with an anxiety problem, Scooby-Doo, is getting a reboot and Netflix is picking up the tab. Variety is reporting that the iconic show is becoming an hour-long series for the streamer although no details have been confirmed. In fact, Netflix execs declined to comment.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

If the project is a go, this would be the first live-action movie based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon since 2018’s Daphne & Velma. Before that, there were two theatrical live-action movies, Scooby-Doo (2002) and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004), then two sequels that premiered on The Cartoon Network.

Currently, the adult-oriented Velma is streaming on Max.

Scooby-Doo originated in 1969 under the creative team Hanna-Barbera. The cartoon follows a group of teenagers who investigate supernatural happenings. Known as Mystery Inc., the crew consists of Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Shaggy Rogers, and his best friend, a talking dog named Scooby-Doo.

Scooby-Doo

Normally the episodes revealed the hauntings they encountered were hoaxes developed by land-owners or other nefarious characters hoping to scare people away from their properties. The original TV series named Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! ran from 1969 to 1986. It was so successful that movie stars and pop culture icons would make guest appearances as themselves in the series.

Celebrities such as Sonny & Cher, KISS, Don Knotts, and The Harlem Globetrotters made cameos as did Vincent Price who portrayed Vincent Van Ghoul in a few episodes.

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BET Releasing New Original Thriller: The Deadly Getaway

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The Deadly Getaway

BET will soon be offering horror fans a rare treat. The studio has announced the official release date for their new original thriller, The Deadly Getaway. Directed by Charles Long (The Trophy Wife), this thriller sets up a heart racing game of cat and mouse for audiences to sink their teeth into.

Wanting to break up the monotony of their routine, Hope and Jacob set off to spend their vacation at a simple cabin in the woods. However, things go sideways when Hope’s ex-boyfriend shows up with a new girl at the same campsite. Things soon spiral out of control. Hope and Jacob must now work together to escape the woods with their lives.

The Deadly Getaway
The Deadly Getaway

The Deadly Getaway is written by Eric Dickens (Makeup X Breakup) and Chad Quinn (Reflections of US). The Film stars, Yandy Smith-Harris (Two Days in Harlem), Jason Weaver (The Jacksons: An American Dream), and Jeff Logan (My Valentine Wedding).

Showrunner Tressa Azarel Smallwood had the following to say about the project. “The Deadly Getaway is the perfect reintroduction to classic thrillers, which encompass dramatic twists, and spine-chilling moments. It showcases the range and diversity of emerging Black writers across genres of film and television.”

The Deadly Getaway will premiere on 5.9.2024, exclusively ion BET+.

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