Badlands Director Explains Distant Future Setting In Alien & Predator Timelines

Predator: Badlands director Dan Trachtenberg clarifies the decision to set the story in the distant future of the Predator and Alien franchises. The new film follows a Yautja named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) and Thia (Elle Fanning), a damaged synthetic created by Alien’s Weyland-Yutani corporation.

During an interview with Variety, Trachtenberg was asked how he decided when Badlands would be set, especially since the story incorporates both the Predator and Alien franchises. He explains that he did not want to interfere with any of the other projects that were in the works at the same time as Badlands, including Alien: Romulus.

Trachtenberg also emphasizes that setting Dek and Thia’s stories in the distant future, even beyond Resurrection in Alien’s timeline, allowed the movie to be its “own thing.” He was also already comfortable exploring a brand-new time period after already doing so in Prey and Killer of Killers. Check out Trachtenberg’s comments below:

Very intentionally, it is the furthest into the future in both “Predator” and “Alien.” When we were making it, I wasn’t really sure what was going on with “Alien: Romulus” and I don’t even know how aware I even was of “Alien: Earth.” So I just didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. I wanted to make sure we were doing our own thing, and selfishly, I’d also done so much “Predator” in different time periods that I was excited for this to be in the future, even past “Alien: Resurrection.”

Alien: Earth takes place two years before the franchise’s original movie, while Alien: Romulus is set 20 years after Ellen Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) first encounter with a Xenomorph. This allows Romulus and Earth to have many close ties to the original Alien, while Badlands takes an entirely different approach in the distant future.

Most Predator: Badlands’ reviews indicate that this approach resonates with critics and general audiences. It has a “Certified Fresh” critical score and 95% “Verified Hot” audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Badlands has also performed well at the box office, where it had the Predator franchise’s all-time best domestic opening debut at $40 million. With a worldwide opening of $80 million, Trachtenberg’s film has already surpassed Predator 2 (1990) and its entire worldwide gross of $54.8 million. Badlands is also closing in on the original Predator (1987) and its $98.3 million global earnings.

The ending to Predator: Badlands sets up a potential sequel and more adventures for Dek and Thia. A sequel has yet to be confirmed, but the opening weekend box office and positive reviews bode well, which will allow Trachtenberg to take the Predator and Alien franchises into an even more distant future.

There are also hopes for Alien: Earth season 2 to be renewed and there have been discussions of a Romulus sequel. Regardless of what happens with those projects, though, they will not interfere with a Predator: Badlands sequel due to when Trachtenberg decided to place Dek and Thia’s story in the Predator and Alien timelines.