5 Reasons Why Predator: Badlands Dominated The Box Office

For the first time in seven years, a Predator has taken their place atop the box office. That's because Disney and 20th Century Studios unleashed director Dan Trachtenberg's "Predator: Badlands" in theaters this past weekend. It turns out that audiences were happier than expected to turn up for one of these movies on the big screen, as it exceeded everyone's expectations.

"Badlands" opened to $40 million domestically, easily taking the top spot on the charts. Heading into the weekend, estimates for "Badlands" were hovering closer to the mid-$20 million range. Similarly, the movie also pulled in $40 million overseas for an $80 million global debut. Again, it was expected to open in the $30 million range internationally, so it over-performed worldwide. It's rare to see a movie blow so significantly beyond its tracking, but that's precisely what happened here.

That means "Badlands" now owns the biggest debut ever for a "Predator" movie at the box office, overtaking 2004's "Alien vs. Predator," which opened to $38.2 million en route to $177.4 million worldwide. This time, the franchise didn't need an assist from the presence of Xenomorphs. Yes, "Badlands" is connected to the "Alien" franchise, but it wasn't sold as a big crossover. Instead, it stood on its own two feet.

So, what went right here? How did Disney bring this property back to the big screen so successfully? We're going to go over the biggest reasons why "Predator: Badlands" was a sizable hit at the box office on opening weekend. Let's get into it.

The biggest reason why "Predator: Badlands" over-performed is all about the audience reception. Yes, critics really liked the movie, with /Film's Jeremy Mathai calling it "by far the funniest, most heartfelt, and boldest 'Predator' movie of them all" in his review. But the key here is that audiences agreed in a big, bad way.

"Badlands" currently holds an 85% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the best-reviewed "Predator" movies ever (though it trails behind the likes of "Prey" and "Predator: Killer of Killers"). More impressively, however, it also holds a stellar 95% audience rating, which is hard to come by in the realm of blockbuster filmmaking. It even secured an A- CinemaScore, which is another record for the "Predator" franchise.

In short: People straight-up love this movie, which has translated into meaningful word-of-mouth buzz and, thus, more tickets sold. That's good because the film carries a $105 million budget and needs legs to profit theatrically. The encouraging news is it's not terribly far off from the $42 million domestic debut of "Alien: Romulus" last year, a movie that opened bigger overseas with a $108 million global start. So long as "The Running Man" doesn't eat this film's lunch this upcoming weekend, things look good in the early going.

October 2025 was the worst October at the box office in nearly 30 years. Movies flopped or disappointed left and right. Hence, there was little by way of major holdovers to get in the way of "Predator: Badlands" doing its thing. If anything, there was pent-up demand for a film worth going to see from certain audience members. That helped a great deal.

Further aiding matters was the fact that the weekend's other new releases didn't get in the way. "Regretting You" ($7.1 million) secured the number two in its third weekend, with "Black Phone 2" ($5.3 million) landing at number three in its fourth frame. It was only after these two that a pair of new releases managed to chart, with the drama "Sarah's Oil" ($4.4 million) coming in at fourth place and the World War II drama "Nuremberg" ($3.8 million) rounding out the top five.

Other newcomers included "Die, My Love" ($2.6 million) and Sydney Sweeney's boxing flick "Christy" ($1.3 million), which absolutely tanked in its debut. So, all in all, none of the other newcomers did huge business, nor were they going for the same audience. The biggest threat to this movie's eventual success remains "The Running Man," which is very much gunning for a similar crowd. Even so, neither film is so big that the two can't co-exist.

One advantage this movie has over many other American movies playing in theaters right now is that sci-fi and monster films tend to travel well overseas. Even superhero movies have struggled mightily at the international box office as of late, with other countries increasingly favoring homegrown products, particularly China. But for every rule, there is an exception.

For example, "Alien: Romulus" made $350.8 million worldwide, including an outsized $110 million in China. "Predator" isn't as big as "Alien," but that's still a good omen. We can also look at "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" doing $572 million globally, with nearly $376 million, or just about 66% of that money, coming from international markets.

In 2025, to whatever degree one considers "Jurassic World Rebirth" a monster movie, we're looking at $868.6 million worldwide, with $529 million of that coming from outside of North America. Even dating back to 2021 (when theaters were only starting to reopen after the COVID-19 lockdowns), "Godzilla vs. Kong" was one of the first, hits taking in $467.8 million worldwide. Again, $367.3 million of that came internationally.

There are plenty of other examples, but the larger point is that this movie is well-positioned to perform globally and won't have to rely on outsized grosses from an uncertain domestic marketplace to make its hay. Whether or not it can reach over/under $300 million globally and get close to theatrical profitability remains to be seen. Still, in this regard, the incline on the hill it's climbing is reduced. It's the right kind of movie for a global audience.

Creatively speaking, part of the reason this movie seems to be resonating is that it offers something totally new. The first "Predator" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger came out in 1987 and introduced the idea of "Man vs. the most skilled hunter in the galaxy." The problem with movies like 2018's "The Predator" is that they felt like the franchise was spinning its wheels with nowhere to go, leading to diminishing returns.

With "Badlands," the property has boldly leapt into the future and given us something we'd never seen before, making an actual Predator the main character. Yes, there's a bit of an "Alien" crossover going on, but it doesn't take center stage. This is still a "Predator" movie through and through, and it's given longtime fans something new to chew on. In an era when too much franchise filmmaking can feel safe, the sheer audacity of this film has resonated with people.

"Badlands" is also the first PG-13 "Predator" movie, but not because it's light on carnage. Rather, it's because (minor spoiler alert) there aren't any humans in the film. That's made the rating an asset rather than a hindrance. Indeed, Trachtenberg didn't compromise what the franchise is to get that PG-13 rating, and, in the process, has opened it up to an even bigger audience. It paid off.

Trachtenberg's role in this movie's success simply cannot be overstated. He previously helmed 2022's "Prey," which was itself a radical re-invention of the franchise that took audiences back centuries into the past and focused on a Yautja battling a Comanche warrior. The only problem with "Prey" was that it got sent directly to Hulu rather than playing in theaters first.

Trachtenberg then co-directed this year's animated anthology movie "Predator: Killer of Killers," which also earned some of the best reviews in the history of the franchise. That helped build up this property's batting average, giving people good reason to believe that "Badlands" would be worth a trip to the theater. It's all the more impressive because the last two entries were dumped directly to streaming. People didn't shrug it off as "we have 'Predator' at home."

Moreover, because Trachtenberg has been guiding this franchise with such a steady hand over the last several years, it's maintained its theatrical value despite being relegated to the realm of straight to streaming fare. That's incredibly difficult to pull off. This man has a real vision for what to do with this world and sure, it would've been much more logical to make a "Prey" sequel. But Disney backing Trachtenberg's bold approach has proven to be the magic sauce here.

"Predator: Badlands" is in theaters now.