There’s a new rumor about the Robert Rodriguez-produced Predators, according to Latino Review: supposedly Nimrod Antal is at the top of the list to direct the film. Which would actually be great news, if true. What, you don’t recognize the name? Read more after the jump.

Nimrod Antal isn’t a name that most people know, but it should be. His debut feature Kontroll was a solid, weird thriller about ticket takers in the Budapest subway system. It created a unique underground world where misfits and drunks lived according to their own half-official rules. Antal followed that with Vacancy, which could have been just a cheap mid-point between the thriller and torture porn genres. But Antal made it into something much better, and until the ending cops out it is a tense, well-made flick. It’s slight, sure, but works in the thriller mode quite well. Most audiences passed it over in ‘07, which is a shame — the movie is worth a closer look. Antal also has Armored coming up, with Matt Dillon and Laurence Fishburne as armored car drivers who get involved in a divisive heist of their own truck.

So: bottom line: Antal can do tense, and though he’s never done action on the scale of what we’d expect to see in Predators, I’d be confident that he’s got the skills. In fact, I’d love to see him do something like this and be given a chance to work with a lot more money. But there are other people in the running, too. The film, written by Alex Litvak, at last report had about seven people in the running to direct. One, as we reported, is Neil Marshall (Doomsday, The Descent), who is also a great choice. Another could be Michael J. Basset, who helmed the upcoming Solomon Kane.

Litvak’s script is based on a Predator sequel treatment Rodriguez wrote 15 years ago, and will supposedly expand the predator universe. Fox has already announced July 7, 2010 as the film’s release date, so we’ll be hearing more about the final choice for director, and other details, relatively soon.