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In the wake of 2022’s low-key reboot of the Predator franchise with Prey, Disney has decided it wants some more… and it’s going straight back to the source to get it.

Elle Fanning, whose four-year turn as Catherine the Great on Hulu’s The Great should have surely convinced everyone she can do almost anything, is in talks to star in Badlands, a new Predator movie co-written and directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who also directed Prey two years ago. Think of it as her return to dealing with aliens, after her appearance in J.J. Abrams’ 2011 movie Super 8.

The new movie, which is expected to go into production in the second half of 2024, will be co-written by Patrick Aison, who worked with Trachtenberg on Prey. Despite this, it’s not believed that Badlands — the details of which are purposefully being kept under wraps by 20th Century Studios, which is producing the project — is intended to be a direct sequel to Prey, which has an entirely separate sequel reportedly in early development at the studio. Amber Midthunder is potentially attached to the second installment of that series, should it happen, but no deals have reportedly been signed.

Amongst the many elements of Badlands that are unclear as of writing, one in particular is noteworthy: where it could debut. Prey famously broke records when it showed up on Hulu in 2022, but that doesn’t mean that Disney and 20th Century would want to repeat that for the new movie. After all, Alien: Romulus was originally intended to have a similar release to Prey, but it was upgraded to a theatrical release during its production, and it’s very possible that Badlands could see the Predator franchise return to the big screen in its wake. Let’s all keep an eye on how successful Romulus is to gauge how likely that could be, maybe; Alien: Romulus hits theaters August 16.

Alien is chest-bursting its way back into pop culture this year, and we couldn't be more excited. Prepare for Alien: Romulus with Popverse's Alien watch order, see the face-hugging first trailer, and find out where Romulus fits into the Alien timeline from star Cailee Spaeny.