Jacob Tremblay (Room) will appear in 2018’s The Predator, The Hollywood Reporter says.
The Predator starts filming in February. Directed by Shane Black (Iron Man 3, The Nice Guys) and written by Black and his Monster Squad writing partner, Fred Dekker (Night of the Creeps). It’s the only exciting directing/writing team a Predator sequel has ever had. If ever we’re get another good Predator movie, The Predator is our best shot.
But right now we know very little beyond the cast, which in addition to Tremblay includes Sterling K. Brown (The People Vs. O.J. Simpson), Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele), Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight), OIivia Munn (Mortdecai), Boyd Holbrook (Narcos) and maybe Thomas Jane (The Punisher).
According to THR, “ Tremblay will play the son of Holbrook's character, an ex-Marine who discovers the existence of fierce aliens but finds that no one believes they exist.” The young character will be autistic and contribute to the fight against the predator with his “preternatural ability” for language acquisition.
This new character information sheds some light on some ongoing confusion regarding The Predator plot. Early rumors held that The Predator would be set in the suburbs, changing it up from the jungle location of the original Predator and the oddball urbanity of Predator 2. Black denied the suburban Predator rumors to Collider back in November. But subsequent stories in major trades, including THR , started describing the suburban city as fact.
It’s still not clear whether or not The Predator will be set in the suburbs, but the description of Tremblay’s character suggests a possible source of the confusion. The Predator will have a family component, very unlike the hyper-macho man-vs-monster vibes of the other Predator movies, from the original to Predators.
Casting news is nice and all, but it’ll be far more exciting once we start hearing some of Black’s sparkling dialogue reinterpreted through Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature accent (though unconfirmed, it’s widely assumed he’ll make an appearance).
