Though the Predator franchise has enjoyed a resurgence over the past few years, there were still some questions regarding the box office prospects of Predator: Badlands, the property’s first new theatrical release in seven years. Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers found success on streaming, but that doesn’t always translate to success at the multiplex. The convenience of cueing something up at home makes it easier for certain titles to catch on in living rooms, but not theaters. Fortunately, the new wave of Predator popularity carried over to the big screen, as Badlands exceeded expectations during its opening weekend. Now, it’s on the precipice of setting a major franchise record.
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As of this writing, according to Box Office Mojo, Predator: Badlands is in a virtual tie with Alien vs. Predator at the domestic box office. The former stands at $80.24 million while the latter grossed $80.28 million. This means that it’s only a matter of days before Predator: Badlands overtakes Alien vs. Predator to become the highest-grossing installment in the overall Predator franchise. It’s already been the top mainline Predator movie for a couple of weeks.
Can Predator: Badlands Become the Highest-Grossing Movie in the Alien/Predator Universe?
Now that Predator: Badlands has cleared all of the Predator movies, the biggest question remaining is whether or not it can surpass the Alien films that are ahead of it. There are three Alien installments that have earned more than Badlands currently: Aliens ($85.1 million), Alien: Romulus ($105.3 million), and Prometheus ($126.4 million). Since there’s a small gap between Badlands and Aliens, there’s a decent chance Dan Trachtenberg’s latest jumps past the James Cameron classic. After that, however, the odds of Badlands rising further up the charts go down.
Business is already starting to slow down for Badlands. After its strong debut, it fell nearly 70% in its second weekend with $12.7 million. During its third weekend, it made $6.5 million. Badlands‘ numbers should only continue to go down from here, especially with Wicked: For Good and Zootopia 2 currently dominating the marketplace. Badlands seems to have done a majority of its damage at the box office, so it’ll have an uphill climb to make the $25 million needed to beat Romulus or $46 million to surpass Prometheus. At best, Badlands will probably finish its run as the third-highest-grossing movie in the Alien/Predator shared universe.
That is a tremendous accomplishment, and it should pave the way for further Predator adventures on the big screen. Trachtenberg continues to have more ideas for what he can do in this sandbox, so it’ll be interesting to see what he comes up with next. While fans are certainly interested in a new Alien vs. Predator movie (one that would hopefully do the epic crossover justice), there doesn’t appear to be a rush to smash the action figures together. Tractenberg is prioritizing story over everything, making sure any crossovers between Alien and Predator are organic (like the Weyland-Yutani synths in Badlands). He wants to take his time and steadily build towards something, a la Marvel and The Avengers.
Trachtenberg seems to have stumbled on a nice formula; his three Predator films are all distinct, standalone works. By jumping all across the timeline, he’s told a wide range of stories; one film is about Comanche warriors protecting their home from a Yautja, another puts the audience in a Yautja’s shoes and crafts a heartfelt narrative about found family. If the Predator hot streak continues, there could eventually be something substantial like an Arnold Schwarzenegger return or an Alien vs. Predator reboot, but for now, Trachtenberg has more than earned the right to do whatever he wants.
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Image courtesy of Monolith Productions, Nightdive Studios, Warner Bros. Games, and Atari
