The fourth film in the Predator series (or sixth, if you count AvP) has finally hit theaters, potentially setting off the future of the franchise. But does the new movie play into the current trends that blockbusters are attempting to exploit?
If you’re planning on seeing The Predator this weekend and are wondering if it’s worth it to stick after the credits, well, don’t waste your time. The film actually packs everything before the cast and crew get their recognition, though it does set up a potential sequel with all the style of a Marvel Studios movie.
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The Predator is the latest attempt to make the franchise a viable, money-making IP, though that argument could become increasingly less convincing after this film. The 2010 movie Predators by Robert Rodriguez made $24.7 million at the box office in its opening weekend and cost significantly less than the new movie. Director Shane Black‘s take is poised to make about $25 million this weekend, barely over the previous film in the franchise.
Reviews have not been kind to the movie, and it currently is sitting at 34% on Rotten Tomatoes with a 49% audience score. It doesn’t sound like the movie is expected to bounce back at the box office at this point, but stranger things have happened.
The movie has been mired in controversy and rumors over the last year, with major reshoots reported to be stretching into the summer and just weeks before the premiere.
Lately, a different narrative has dominated the release of the film after Olivia Munn spoke out against a scene in the film that included actor Steven Wilder Striegel, who is a registered sex offender.
After Munn lobbied to get the scene cut by studio 20th Century Fox, she spoke out against the actor’s inclusion in the press and raised awareness about the issue, though she didn’t receive support from her fellow cast, director Black, and the studio.
“Well, first of all, when I did call my co-stars I got chastised the next day by people at the studio for telling them and why am I not just keeping it quiet,” Munn said on The Ellen Show. “‘It’s all going to be okay, it got deleted, what’s the big deal’ and well, it happened.”
Some cast members did speak out in support of her later on, and Black did offer an apology, but the issue remains the dominant story surrounding the release of Fox’s hopeful franchise revival.
The Predator is now playing in theaters.