Predator (1987) directed by John McTiernan and starring a perfectly cast Arnold Schwarzenegger is still considered a classic in the sci-fi action genre. The film started a franchise of films that opened to middling responses. Between Predators and Aliens vs Predator, nothing came close to the original. Since then, the biggest stride taken in the direction of reviving the film series is the recent prequel film Prey. Set roughly 300 years before Predator, the film revolves around Naru (Amber Midthunder), a young girl from the Comanche tribe who goes up against the monster or rather an initial version of it. Directed by 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg, it comes as a pleasant surprise - a thrilling gore-fest tucked into a coming-of-age arc. In an exclusive interview with Filmfare, Dan Trachtenberg along with producer Jhane Myers opened up about making Prey, the latest adventure that delves into the origin story of Predator and how it holds up next to the iconic original.
Prey is reviving a film franchise that has earned cult status. How challenging was it to follow up on the Predator movies?
Jhane: For me, because it was set in a different time I didn't find it challenging. I found it enjoyable to make this type of film just because of the way the characters are written, the way the film is written. The natives aren't the underdog here. So for me, it was empowering to make a film like this. Everything cooperated with us, even the weather. I've been on other films where we had to shut down because of the weather but everything just seemed to work out.
Dan: It's something Jhane alluded to - before embarking on our production we had a tribal blessing from the Nakoda Nation and they prayed for good weather to bless us. And for a movie that's shooting entirely outdoors for six months, that is critical and I think it really worked. There's more challenge in taking on the pressure and expectations of people and what they expect from the Predator franchise in general. I think I was excited to drill into the things that I felt made the first movie tick. I wanted it to be an exciting genre mash-up and not just repeat the beats of the first one. But doing a little mash-up of our own. It's more of an adventure rather than an action movie - it's an adventure movie mixed with a horror and a suspense movie, even a sports movie to some degree. I feel like it's got a pulse of its own and spirit of its own but obviously still very much spiritually connected to the original movie.
There are films from the Predator franchise that haven't exactly worked. So what would you say you wanted to do differently from those films?
Dan: Well, I think the original was exciting in that "Oh my God, it's sort of like a slasher movie, except it's in this other setting with these other protagonists" and our movie is more focused on telling a David vs Goliath story in this real rivalry. It's an underdog hero's journey of this one character and yet still manages to deliver what we expect a Predator movie to deliver on the kind of action that you see - the clever and excruciating depths of brutality that the Predator is able to inflict with his special set of weaponry. But since the movie is focused on being more than just a Predator movie and more of an actual standalone movie. It separates itself from maybe some of the other sequels.
Prey has some interesting action choreography between the creature who is technologically superior to humans. How did you go about planning their clashes?
Dan: One of the things that was particularly challenging in dabbling into how the Comanche would fight. I'm a fan of action movies, Hong Kong action movies, and martial arts cinema. And I wanted to deliver on the kind of choreography that we see in those kinds of movies, purely in terms of the attention to detail and the cleanliness of the geography of the action and also having very specific exciting move sets. What I couldn't do is have them use martial arts because that was not how the Comanche fought so that presented a challenge. But I think with it bred innovation in seeing them fight in a way that we don't see heroes fight. The way that Tabe, the character played by Dakota, fights with a bow and arrow, there are a lot of movies with bow and arrow fights. I was very intimidated by those and I wanted to really deliver because the Comanche were fierce with their weapons and I think Dakota really delivers and takes on that Predator in a very exciting way with a weapon that we've seen used plenty in movies. Then from the Predator's standpoint, I really wanted to get away from what sometimes felt like a professional wrestler in a suit in fight sequences. I wanted it to feel more ferocious and primal and alien creature-like. Those were some of the challenges and I think the movie has some very unique and varied set of action sequences.
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