A newAlien vs. Predatormovie gets an intriguing tease fromAlien: Romulus(2024) director Fede Alvarez. After both franchises found success on their own in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, the worlds ofAlienandPredatorfirst collided in 2004’s poorly-reviewedAlien vs. Predatorfrom director Paul W. S. Anderson. A critically-panned sequel from directors Greg and Colin Strause followed in 2007 with the subtitleRequiem, but this film’s dip at the box office killed chances for a third. Following thesuccess ofPrey(2022) andAlien: Romulus, however, both franchises have experienced a resurgence.
In a recent interview withCollider, Alvarez teases that anotherAlien vs. Predatormovie isn’t completely off the table. While there are currently no firm plans to make such a movie, Alvarez already has an idea for what one might look like, and it would involve not telling audiences ahead of time that it was a crossover. Check out Alvarez’s comment about anotherAlien vs. Predatorbelow:
“I can’t speak for [Prey director Dan Trachtenberg]. At some point, once there’s another Alien, and I know he’s working on a sequel to Prey, one day if we feel like, ‘Yeah, that’s what we cannot wait to see,’ I think that’s a movie we could do.”
“The way I would do it, most likely, if it could be done this way… It’s harder to keep secrets online… The best AVP will be the one that you don’t know is AVP until the other guy shows up. You think you’re watching a Predator movie, and then they land in some place and there are creatures, and fcking hell, it’s a Xenomorph. That would get me. ‘Fck yeah!’ You’d go crazy.
Or vice versa, you’re in an Alien movie, and then suddenly a mysterious creature is there, and you’re able to hear that sound, and you see the cloak, and you go, ‘Is that a f*cking Predator?’ And then turns out it is. That would be the way to do it, don’t you think? Once you put it in the title, it’s like, ‘Spoiler alert.’”
What Alvarez’s Comments Mean For Another Alien Vs. Predator
Why His Idea Would Be Hard To Pull Off
If there was ever a time for interest from executives in anotherAlien vs. Predatormovie, it would be now. After a panned 2018 film, the world ofPredatorreturned with the well-reviewedPreyin 2022 and Trachtenberg is now makingPredator: Badlands, which is due out in November.Alien: Romulusreviewswere also positive and the film was a big box office hit, and Alvarez has made clear that he plans to make a sequel. After a series of disappointing entries in both franchises,both IPs are now in positions of strength.
Why Alien Vs. Predator 3 Never Happened (Despite AVPR’s Success)
Even though Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem was a financial success, Alien Vs Predator 3’s ambitious Alien prequel plans eventually fell through.
While Alvarez’s idea of keeping anAlien vs. Predatormovie under wraps certainly sounds promising on paper, it does seem like a long shot. In today’s social media age,actually keeping this a secret would be massively challenging, and there would likely be leaks ahead of timerevealing that either a Xenomorph or a Predator would be showing up in the other’s movie. And that’s not to mention the fact that studio executives would probably want to use the crossover as a marketing tool to get audiences into theaters to see it.
Reports have claimed that, in addition to theupcomingPredator: Badlands, Trachtenberg still has plans to makePrey 2.
Our Take On A New Alien Vs. Predator Movie
Should The Franchises Remain Separate?
It could be exciting as an audience member to be surprised by anAlien vs. Predatorcrossover movie in a theater, but there’s an argument to be made that now isn’t the right time for a crossover. Both franchises clearly have momentum with these new filmmakers at the helm, andit’s almost more intriguing to see where Alvarez and Trachtenberg take these IPs on their own rather than mashing them together. Plus, neither of the previousAlien vs. Predatormoviesmade a strong case for these franchises to cross over.
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That being said,Alvarez and Trachtenberg’s involvement would mean that any newAlien vs. Predatormovie would be in good hands. Even though previous attempts were arguably not successful, these new filmmakers could certainly find a way to make it work. It remains to be seen whether anotherAlien vs. Predatormovie will actually happen, but it sounds like it might be a surprise if it does.
