‘The Predator’ Originally Featured Direct References to ‘Predator 2’

The Predator‘s journey to theaters was a bumpy one, suffering multiple release date delays to accommodate various reshoots. Unfortunately, one of the scenes that was filmed but never made the final cut was a sequence that directly connected Jake Busey‘s character Sean Keyes to the role his dad Gary Busey played in Predator 2, Peter Keyes.

In The Predator, Jake Busey’s character doesn’t directly address the role his father played in the franchise, though anyone familiar with the series would have been able to piece together the connection. The actor detailed his frustrations that a direct nod to his father’s character was cut.

“I am really fortunate that the director asked for me to do it because he wanted to have a referential moment and integrate Predator 2 with The Predator,” Busey shared with MEAWW. “But in the end, they cut all my interesting stuff and most importantly the references to my dad.”

The actor revealed that one scene discusses a former operative who had contact with the alien species, which then displayed the image of his father’s character from the 1990 sequel. The character then would have been referred to as the founder of Stargate, the organization in the new film. It’s unclear, however, why this reference was completely cut from the film.

Busey, meanwhile, thinks it is the studio’s fault, detailing, “The reason why they cut it all out is because they did not understand how cool it was.”

He added, “The audience would have gotten to see my dad and me in the same frame and the tongue in cheek aspect of it, that both of us were of the same age when we filmed the Predator movies.”

Jake was 46 when he filmed his role and his father was 46 when he filmed Predator 2.

Sadly, one tradition from the franchise that The Predator carried out was being a disappointment both critically and financially. Review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes calculates that only 32 percent of its reviews were positive, going on to earn $160 million worldwide on a reported budget of $88 million. Of all the films in the franchise, including the crossovers with the Alien franchise, only the original Predator and 2010’s Predators have the “Fresh” distinction on Rotten Tomatoes.

While the studio likely hoped The Predator would revive interest in the franchise, it left little impact on wide audiences, making the series’ future seem as uncertain now as it was before the film’s release.

The Predator is out now on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD.

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