Predator: Badlands took the franchise’s biggest gamble yet: it made the Predator the hero. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg, the film follows Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a young Yautja cast out from his clan for being small, who teams up with Thia (Elle Fanning), a damaged Weyland-Yutani android, on a hostile death planet. The gamble has paid off.
1. A franchise-record opening
Badlands opened to $40 million domestically and $40 million internationally, an $80 million global debut that stands as the largest opening for a Predator film, including the Alien vs. Predator entries, surpassing 2018’s The Predator. Its worldwide total has since climbed past $184 million against a reported $105 million budget, putting it within sight of break-even before home viewing.
2. Critics and audiences agree, for once
The film holds an 86% critics’ score and a 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus praising Trachtenberg for turning one of cinema’s most iconic brutes into a hero worth rooting for. IGN scored it 8/10, and the film’s expansion of Yautja lore, including its Alien crossover elements, has been widely praised.
3. What comes next
Badlands is now available on Disney+ and digital platforms, where its word of mouth can do a second round of work. Trachtenberg has already reinvented the franchise once with Prey; with Badlands, he has proved that a Predator-led story is not a novelty, but a viable new direction for the series.
