‘Predators’ May Also Have a Director Lined Up

Published by Jeff Leins on: June 12th, 2009

Neil Marshall may be up for the director’s chair on Predators for 20th Century Fox, the reboot of the alien hunter franchise being produced by Robert Rodriguez.  It is already on the schedule for July 7, 2010.

According to Bloody-Disgusting, their sources say he’s closing in on a deal, but has not officially signed on to the project.  Marshall directed a personal horror favorite of mine, The Descent, and a disappointing Doomsday.

Harry Knowles at Ain’t it Cool News has a working relationship with Rodriguez, who confirmed “Marshall is one of about 7 names that Robert is looking at and meeting with right now. Neil wants this gig badly, but then so do the other folks.” Then he follows it up with a little hypocritical bashing on reporting rumors, but whatever.

It’s a shame Rodriguez isn’t directing this movie after he personally wrote a treatment for another Predator movie in 1996.  Instead he’s filling his schedule with movies like this summer’s kid pic Shorts and a live-action Jetsons.  Where’s Sin City 2, RR?

Instead Rodriguez is simply overseeing production while Alex Litvak (Medieval) writes a new draft of the screenplay.  Also, Rodriguez took the time to dispel a rumor floating around that Arnold Schwarzenegger had been approached to return to the franchise (he wasn’t involved with Predator 2).  The producer told AICN this:

We’re still writing a new script, and although I know Arnold personally and he’s the coolest person on the planet, I have not contacted him about this at all at this time.

So, as they say in the business, “that’s just a buncha hogwash.”