Predator: Badlands release date – cast, plot, and trailer for new film

Hot off the back of 2022's Prey and the animated film Predator: Killer of Killers, director Dan Trachtenberg's newest addition to the Predator franchise is a standalone film set decades in the future on a remote planet.

While the main theatrical films have told four stories (and two crossovers) within the Predator universe, Badlands is set to draw more from the extended universe of Predator material – it begins on the Predators' home world and explores their species' culture.

Promising to lean more into the science fiction aspects of the franchise than ever before, Badlands resembles more of a space fantasy and its lore revelations look set to be huge for fans of the series.

With its final trailer already out and its release date imminent, read on to find out everything you need to know about Predator: Badlands.

Predator: Badlands release date – when does the film come out?

Lining up with its US release, Predator: Badlands will be out exclusively in cinemas from Friday 7th November. As with most films distributed by 20th Century Studios, Badlands will be released on Disney+ at a later date – though at the moment, no official streaming date has been given.

In the immediate future, the only way to watch the film will be in the cinema. Badlands will also be getting an IMAX release, and its trailer promises that this is the best way to see it.

Predator: Badlands cast – who stars in the movie?

Predator: Badlands has a very limited cast list, with only two names listed:

• Elle Fanning as Thia
• Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as Dek

While Fanning has been seen in the trailers, Schuster-Koloamatangi won't have his face on screen, as Dek is one of the Predators' species.

For the film, Schuster-Koloamatangi (who is usually a stuntman) learned the Predator language and portrayed Dek via a mix of technological and traditional techniques. He wore a creature suit over his body, while his expressions and facial movements were motion-captured to allow for Dek's face to be digitally designed and reflect Schuster-Koloamatangi's performance more closely.

Meanwhile, Fanning had the task of portraying Thia as well as a host of other 'synths' – humanoid robots who had been sent to the Predators' homeworld.

In an interview with SFX, Fanning spoke about how often only Thia's top half is actually in play (her character spends much of the runtime sliced in half, carried like a backpack by Dek) – "Dimitrius had a lot of heavy lifting."

Predator: Badlands plot – what happens in Badlands?

A departure from the other films in the franchise, Badlands turns the Predator into the protagonist. Dek is an outcast from his clan, and when he discovers Thia forms an unlikely friendship with her. The film's trailer explains that the Predators' planet is one where everything is trying to kill you – so the film sees Dek and Thia struggling to survive on a planet that wants them dead.

The movie's synopsis teases that the unlikely duo are "in search of the ultimate adversary", but not much has been revealed about exactly what this may be. One thing's for sure, throughout the film Thia and Dek are going to come across a whole host of other predators – predators that consider the Predator species we know prey.

Predator: Badlands trailer

You can view the final trailer for Predator: Badlands below.

Predator: Badlands releases exclusively in cinemas on Friday 7th November.

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