‘Predator: Prey’ (Prey, 2022), the new film in the ‘Predator’ franchise seems to have been inspired by one of the most memorable moments in the 1987 film by director John McTiernan, the alien hunter’s confrontation with Native American tracker Billy Sole (Sonny Landham)when trying to buy the rest of his team time to escape, Billy stays behind to confront the monster.
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The fight that is going to take place on a fallen tree trunk that hangs over a deep ravine is preceded by a ritual of the native, who takes off his protective vest and cuts his chest with his knife, but it does not end well for him, and we only hear his piercing scream echoing through the air as he is killed off-screen. Now, another ‘Predator’ movie seems to acknowledge the true potential of this scene: a native american character who comes face to face with an otherworldly creaturethe scene of ‘The dam’,
In an interview with Empire Magazine, director Dan Trachtenberg says that his parents wouldn’t let him see the movie but he was amazed at how his friends described Billy’s last battle, although he did not imagine that it is not actually shown in the film. We never know what exactly Billy’s death looks like and his imagined version of this scene would ultimately pave the way to ‘The Dam’, as he told Empire:
“‘Predator’ came out when I was in third grade. I wasn’t allowed to see it, and rightfully so! But I was in the van on my way to a karate tournament with a bunch of sixth graders. And they described the whole movie to me, including when Billy the Native American explorer (Sonny Landham) carves his own chest and fights the predator in a waterfall. And then I saw the movie, and that scene isn’t really in the montage! But that always captured my imagination. Always I wanted to see that movie, you know. And that’s also part of the genesis of [‘La presa’]”.
“That was my initial idea for Fox [antes de que Disney la comprara], the notion of how cool it would be to make a movie that focuses on a Native American story, to make a western that doesn’t have cowboys in it. That’s a movie that doesn’t really exist. Surprisingly, it doesn’t exist. And I just wanted to make a movie that was mostly told visually and through action.”
‘The Prey’ takes place on the Comanche Nation in the early 18th century, pitting a warrior named Naru (Amber Midthunder) against the first Predator to arrive on Earth. Its development took place under the code name ‘Skulls’, managing to camouflage the project’s connection to the ‘Predator’ movies for four years. Finally will be available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu beginning August 5, 2022.