Predator: Badlands is now officially the highest-grossing Predator movie of all-time, including the Alien crossover films.
Dan Trachtenberg, who revitalized Predator with 2022’s back to basics Prey and this year’s well-received animated anthology Killer of Killer, continued his hot streak with the PG-13 Predator: Badlands, which has enjoyed strong reviews from critics. (IGN’s Predator: Badlands review returned an 8/10.)
Predator: Badlands has now grossed $173,740,607 worldwide after adding $7.2 million during its fourth weekend in theaters. That total figure is made up of $85 million domestic and $88.7 million international.
It now means Predator: Badlands is the highest grossing movie of the Predator franchise, including the AvP films, having overtaken 2018’s The Predator, which ended with $160,542,134 at the global box office.
It’s worth noting that Predator: Badlands’ box office total is being compared to figures for previous Predator movies that are not adjusted for inflation. But irrespective of Badlands’ place on any franchise list, it is more important to ask if Predator: Badlands has done enough business at the box office to convince Disney to invest in the sequel it so clearly sets up?
After four weekends in theaters, and with its box office numbers declining after a strong start, Predator: Badlands is unlikely to cross the $200 million mark. Factoring in production and marketing costs, as well as the cut of revenue theaters take from ticket sales, a Badlands sequel feels like it’s on a knife edge. Check out IGN’s Predator: Badlands Ending Explained to find out what’s next for the series, assuming Trachtenberg gets to continue making Predator movies.
Predator began with 1987’s much-loved Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Predator: Badlands is a very different film; less sci-fi horror, more mainstream sci-fi action. For the first time ever the Predator is the protagonist, with a Yautja called Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) out to prove himself to his father by killing a monster on a death planet. Along the way, he meets a Weyland-Yutani synth called Thia, played by Elle Fanning, in an Alien / Predator crossover.
It’s a big swing for Predator and for Dan Trachtenberg, but he was uninterested in essentially remaking prior Predator movies for this new sequel. In a recent interview with IGN, Trachtenberg said he was inspired by Terminator 2 when it came to making Badlands. “Terminator 2: Judgment Day was like a movie my mom could watch,” he said. “So that was a part of it for me, like how to make something that was bold and visceral but also emotional.”
Cyber Monday is your last chance to secure the best offers of the year before the holidays. If you’re on the hunt for some last minute deals, we’re actively rounding up the strongest Cyber Monday discounts, and you can all our top picks and price drops in IGN’s comprehensive Cyber Monday hub.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
