Production has officially wrapped on the upcoming Predator prequel movie, which is currently going under the title Skulls.
Cinematographer Jeff Cutter announced the news on Instragram by posting a photo of a clapboard from the film's set. "And that’s a wrap on Skulls! Can’t thank [director Dan Trachtenberg] enough for inviting me along on this epic journey and entrusting me to help achieve his vision for this film!" Cutter wrote in the accompanying caption. He went on to thank the "great cast" led by actors Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers and Dane DiLiegro, as well as the "brave Calgary crew for diving headfirst in with us!"
Trachtenberg, who also collaborated with Cutter on his feature directorial debut, 2016's 10 Cloverfield Lane, is directing Skulls from a script by Patrick Aison, with John Davis and John Fox producing. The film takes place before the previous four non-crossover Predator movies, revealing how the Predator race found its way to Earth and began hunting humans in the first place.
"It goes back to what made the original Predator movie work. It's the ingenuity of a human being who won't give up, who's able to observe and interpret, basically being able to beat a stronger, more powerful, well-armed force," said Davis in a recent interview. He added that the film, which he referred to as Skull at the time, has "more akin to The Revenant than it does any film in the Predator canon."
A report from earlier this year described Predator 5/Skulls as centering on Kee (Midthunder), a member of the Comanche tribe "who goes against gender norms and traditions to become a warrior." It's the first Predator movie produced since Disney acquired Fox's film and TV assets in 2019, as well as the first since the critical and commercial disappointment of Shane Black's The Predator a year before that.
"This was meant to be a surprise," tweeted Trachtenberg when news of Skulls leaked in November 2020. "Been working on this for almost [four] years now. I am very sad that what we had in store for how you could discover this movie will no longer happen. It's a bummer. But also...YAY!"
Skulls has yet to receive an official release date, but appears on-course to reach theaters in 2022.
Source: Instagram