The first look at footage from Predator: Badlands has been revealed at CinemaCon. The seventh movie in the long-running series, Predator: Badlands was helmed by Prey director Dan Trachtenberg. Despite Prey acting as the earliest movie in the franchise timeline, Predator: Badlands will act as a standalone story and not as a direct sequel to the well-received 2022 installment, which earned a Certified Fresh score Rotten Tomatoes of 94% and starred Amber Midthunder as Naru, a Comanche warrior who defends her tribe from the Predator. The upcoming Predator: Badlands will star Elle Fanning and will premiere on November 7, 2025.
During a presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where ScreenRant was in attendance, 20th Century Studios revealed the first look at Predator: Badlands. Below, read a description of the footage, which is not available online:

“I didn’t think you survived,” says Fanning’s character. We see a few dozen people hunting the Predator in one shot. The predator is hunting something that can’t be killed. We see it use a speeder-type bike, and then a sword that looks like it heats up at the end. Overall, it’s more otherworldly than Prey was.

What This Means For Predator: Badlands

It Expands The Franchise’s Universe

So far, Trachtenberg’s approach to his movies seems to be exploring previously unseen corners of the Predator franchise rather than continuing an ongoing story. From this new footage, it appears that he has done so by centering on an important aspect of Predator lore, which is the alien race’s intense interest in hunting for sport. This has been central to the franchise for many years (and justified the Xenomorphs’ presence in Alien vs. Predator) and seems to be a springboard into one of the most sci-fi focused installments yet.

Predators and Xenomorphs clashed once again in the 2007 sequel Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.

Typically, the Predator movies take a more action or horror-oriented approach. However, this footage from the anticipated 2025 movie implies that it could expand the universe even more by leaning in harder on the sci-fi angle, potentially providing an even more in-depth look at the Predators and their world as this seemingly impossible hunt kicks off.
The Movie Could Be A Hit

By embracing this unique take on the franchise, Predator: Badlands could become a success with general audiences, just like Prey, which earned a Popcornmeter score of 74% on Rotten Tomatoes and became Hulu’s most-watched premiere across movies and television series of all time when it debuted. Should this be the case, the fact that it is getting a theatrical premiere rather than Prey’s Hulu-exclusive streaming release could make it the highest-grossing installment in the franchise, which has so far peaked at the $172.5 million earned by Alien vs. Predator.
Source: 20th Century Studios