39 Years Later, Arnold Schwarzenegger Confirms Epic Return to Predator Franchise

3 weeks ago 19

Published Mar 9, 2026, 6:53 PM EDT

Shrishty is a decade-old journalist covering a variety of beats between politics to pop culture, but movies are her first love, which led her to study Film and TV Development at UCLAx. She lives and breathes cinema and sometimes wakes up with the close-up shot of Ryan Gosling's hands playing piano in La La Land, in her head.

She has worked with numerous media outlets, including Burda Media (MSN News), DKODING Media, The Voice of Fashion, Hindustan Times, and more. Throughout her career, she has interviewed an array of people, from CEOs and politicians to filmmakers and farmers.

Hollywood believes in giving fans more of what they love. Call it nostalgia baiting or taking the franchise forward, the prequels, sequels, and reboots in the last decade have revived interest in various genres, dying franchises, and even forgotten creatures. Adam Wingard’s Godzilla franchise, David Gordon Green’s Halloween, the Chris Pratt-led Jurassic World franchise, and Liam Neeson’s latest The Naked Gun reboot all make a great case for fans’ returning to the familiar world they love, with new characters and themes.

Among the directors who brilliantly understood the assignment is Dan Trachtenberg, who steered the Predator franchise in a new direction. He started with a prequel, Prey, then went on to make the animated anthology movie Killers of Killers, the success of which was followed by the first theatrical entry in years, Predator: Badlands. The movies were one hit after another and have set up a new sandbox for Trachtenberg to expand and play in.

The sci-fi franchise started in 1987, with Arnold Schwarzenegger at the helm and a brilliant supporting cast including Elpidia Carrillo, Carl Weathers, Richard Chaves, and Sonny Landham. The movie was both a commercial and critical success and made Schwarzenegger the face of the franchise. Now it seems Trachtenberg is planning to bring the actor back for another adventure, as Schwarzenegger revealed in a new conversation about being in "talks" for the next movie. The actor was at Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, where he told The ArnoldFans, "They did an additional Predator, and the director (Dan Trachtenberg) has been doing a great job of that,” he said, adding:

“Now, he wants me to be in the next Predator. We’ve talked about it. As a matter of fact, FOX studios has kind of rediscovered Arnold."

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Dan Trachtenberg Is Working on the Next ‘Predator’ Movie

While little has been announced officially, the actor’s comments hint that Trachtenberg is hard at work on his next franchise film, despite his new Paramount deal. There were some doubts about the future of the Predator franchise, given it’s a Disney property. However, the director had previously cleared the air, revealing that he’s working simultaneously on Paramount IPs and the Predator franchise, “Well, Predator, I'm in this zone of dreaming up more, like I said, as I had been previously,” he teased at the time. Now we know what he has been dreaming up. The Schwarzenegger-led Predator was a big hit when it premiered, earning an Oscar nomination and $98.3 million worldwide. The sequel Predator 2, paled in comparison with mixed reviews and earned $57.1 million at the worldwide box office. However, it has emerged as a cult classic since.

Meanwhile, you can check out the Predator franchise on Disney+. Stay tuned at Collider for more.