Director Dan Trachtenberg’s latest film, Predator: Badlands, has swiftly achieved significant success at the global box office, surpassing the $100 million milestone just ten days after its theatrical release. This impressive performance has allowed the movie to recover its reported $105 million budget, effectively securing the future of the beloved franchise. Trachtenberg’s earlier success with the 2022 prequel Prey, which many argued deserved a wide theatrical release instead of its Hulu streaming debut, helped establish strong momentum for Badlands. Before its theatrical release by Disney-owned 20th Century Studios, Trachtenberg also co-directed the warmly received straight-to-streaming animated spin-off, Predator: Killer of Killers.

With over $60 million earned domestically, Predator: Badlands has officially become the highest-grossing installment in the Predator franchise, surpassing all previous entries, including the original Predator, Predator 2, the 2010 reboot Predators, and the 2018 reboot The Predator. While the film still has a distance to go to match the $350 million global success of Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus, it has already outperformed several notable science-fiction titles such as Transcendence, Chappie, and Life. Given the Predator series’ longstanding connection to the Alien franchise, indications suggest that the studio is planning another crossover-style cinematic merger.

Predator: Badlands has earned a “certified fresh” 85% score on Rotten Tomatoes, marking a notable improvement over films like Life, which holds a 68% score despite its star-studded cast featuring Ryan Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Hiroyuki Sanada, and its $101 million global gross. Even more impressively, Badlands boasts a near-perfect 95% audience score. The film stars Elle Fanning as Thia/Tessa and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as Dek/Father, and is currently playing in theaters with a listed release date of November 5, 2025, and a runtime of 107 minutes.

Adding an intriguing element to the production, Trachtenberg revealed a unique Easter egg involving Matt and Ross Duffer, the creators of Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things. The Duffer Brothers provided the voices for the Yautja ship’s computer in Badlands, heard onscreen as the Yautja computer voice of Kwei’s ship. This cameo appears during a pivotal moment when Kwei (Mike Homik) initiates a launch sequence to jettison his brother Dek (Dimitrius Koloamatangi) off-world, saving him from their murderous father.

Trachtenberg explained that he “roped them in” while the Duffer Brothers were simultaneously mixing Stranger Things. Their voices were heavily processed and computerized to achieve the film’s high-tech alien effect. The challenge for the Duffers was not just delivering the lines but speaking actual Yautja words from a language specifically created for Badlands. Trachtenberg admitted that he himself struggled with the guttural and clicking sounds of the language, making the Duffer Brothers’ fluent delivery a remarkable accomplishment.

The reason behind this unique collaboration ties back to an earlier scheduling conflict. Trachtenberg revealed that he was originally slated to direct an episode of Stranger Things but had to decline due to his commitments to Badlands and Predator: Killer of Killers. This revelation underscores the interconnected nature of Hollywood productions and presents a tantalizing.