Now Is The Right Time For Alien vs Predator to Return

Two of horror’s biggest icons are the Xenomorph and the Predator. A crossover between the two monsters should be a match made in heaven, but past big-screen attempts to merge the Alien and Predator franchises have fallen flat. However, recent successes in both franchises indicate that now is the right time to give Alien vs Predator another try.

The Alien franchise has featured seven mainline films to date, beginning with Ridley Scott’s original in 1979. The movies were pivotal thanks to their creation of the Xenomorph, an alien parasite with multiple terrifying stages of evolution. Two years before Scott’s Alien, another horror beast blasted onto the screen in the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Predator, which featured a hostile extraterrestrial species known as the Yautja that was intent on hunting humans for sport. The two franchises eventually crossed over in 2004’s Alien vs. Predator, which came away with just 21% on Rotten Tomatoes, followed by another attempt in 2007’s Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, a film that earned even less from critics with just 12%. Despite these missteps, there’s no better time for the two franchises to crossover than now.

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The Predator Films Were Revived With Prey

While many attempts were made to reignite the Predator franchise since its initial two films, including the 2010 Predators and 2018’s The Predator, success only really came with the release of 2022’s Prey. The direct-to-streaming release took the Predator back to the 1700s, where it torments a tribe of Camanche warriors, with one young woman stepping up to prove herself as the greater hunter. The film, directed by Dan Trachtenberg, was the most-watched premiere on Hulu in the United States and on Star in other international markets. It also earned a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, the highest in the franchise to date.

Prey’s success was enough to put multiple Predator sequels in development. Predator Badlands is the next live-action film in the franchise set for release in 2025. It won’t be a direct follow-up to Prey but is still directed by Trachtenberg, with Elle Fanning cast in the lead. The Predator itself is also set to be a protagonist in the film, providing an interesting new insight into the alien species. News also came recently that a second secret Predator film, also directed by Trachtenberg (and rumored to be animated) is coming out in 2025, marking a massive year for the franchise.

Alien Romulus Was A Big Success

On the Alien side of things, the sci-fi franchise has seen massive success lately thanks to Fede Alvarez’s 2024 film Alien Romulus. The movie was something of a return to form for the Alien franchise after Scott’s prequel movies Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Taking place shortly after the events of Alien in the timeline, Alien: Romulus follows a new group of characters who infiltrate an abandoned research station and find a hive of Xenomorph activity. In many ways, the film went back to basics, relying on practical makeup and effects, and the atmospheric horror of a monster movie in a confined space. Alien: Romulus ended up grossing $350 million at the box office and earned 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is second only to the original Alien and Aliens.

Alien: Romulus’ success has already led to talks of developing a sequel, with Alvarez set to return along with some of the same characters. The Alien franchise will also expand next year in FX’s Alien: Earth, a prequel from Fargo’s Noah Hawley. Set two years before Alien, Alien: Earth explores what happens when Xenomorphs infiltrate humanity’s home planet.

It’s Time For The Two Franchises To Crossover Again

If the last few years have shown anything, it’s that both the Alien and Predator franchises are firing on all cylinders. Each franchise has seen success in its latest releases and has a bright future planned with new content. There’s never been a better time to attempt a crossover between the two franchises.

20th Century Studios Head Steve Asbell spoke earlier in the year to The Hollywood Reporter about the possibility of Alien and Predator crossing over again. The executive said it would “probably” happen but “not in the way you think.” “Not in the way that it will just be called Alien vs. Predator or anything like the original movies. If we do this, they’ll be organically created out of these two franchises that we’ve continued with characters that we fall in love with and those characters will combine,” he said, before adding they “hadn’t reached that point.”

The previous Alien vs Predator movies have been standalone and set apart from the other films in their respective franchises. Asbell’s approach seems to be a compelling one, with each franchise building up a new set of characters and lore that can potentially lead to a crossover between the two. A prior investment in the characters and worlds of the franchises would be a big boost for Alien vs. Predator and perhaps help a new reboot avoid the mistakes of its predecessors. Nevertheless, now is the time to strike, while interest in both the Alien and Predator franchises is high, and they’re on a hot streak both critically and commercially.

Alien Vs Predator

Release Date

August 13, 2004

Director

Paul W.S. Anderson

Cast

Sanaa Lathan
, Raoul Bova
, Ewen Bremner
, Lance Henriksen
, Colin Salmon

Runtime

101 minutes

Writers

Paul W.S. Anderson

Budget

$60 million

Studio(s)

20th Century

Distributor(s)

20th Century

Prequel(s)

Alien: Covenant, Aliens, Prometheus, Alien Resurrection, Predator 2, Alien 3

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