Prey Made An Innovation To The Predator Costume
If you ever thought the "Predator" franchise was in need of a drastic creative shake-up, then "Prey" will likely be the movie for you. Rather than continuing to spin its wheels with more and more diminishing returns, "10 Cloverfield Lane" filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg was wisely given the reigns and the means to reinvigorate the series like never before. Continuing the proud tradition of dropping the fearsome Predators into brand-new locations and settings, "Prey" nonetheless stands apart from the rest of its predecessors by focusing on a tight-knit group of Indigenous peoples 300 years in the past. With both Predator and prey stripped of the advanced technology, viewers have grown accustomed to seeing, this simple premise suddenly breathes fresh life into a conflict that has grown somewhat stale in the decades since the original classic.
It should come as no surprise that the filmmakers went much further than the plot itself in terms of changing how "Prey" would be made. Even the way the villain of the picture was brought to life necessitated some creative additions, the likes of which we've never seen before in one of these movies. With the film set to debut in the coming days, Trachtenberg walked fans through some of the alterations made to the impressively practical Predator costume.
Taking a page out of Alien
Over the decades, "Predator" movies have remained synonymous with the hard work of improving and innovating the suit for the formidable, trophy-hunting aliens at the center of each installment. We've come a long since the late Kevin Peter Hall first donned the iconic Predator outfit for the 1987 original and nobody is more thankful for that fact than actor Dane DiLiegro, who was tasked with stepping into the suit for "Prey." In an interview with ComicBook.com, director Dan Trachtenberg revealed a few insights into making one of the most fascinating Predator designs in the franchise.
"It was a couple of people driving [the mechanisms in the mask]. There are two versions of the face, There was a stunt version that didn't have any motion, that was a little bit, just a hair safer for Dane to function. And there was another version that was just heavier on Dane because it had all the animatronics in it. And one of the things we added in this movie that strangely wasn't, I don't think was in the other 'Predator' films, was goop. We brought in some alien goop, the stuff that we've seen the 'Alien' movies. So the mandibles and the face and all that stuff just felt that much more violent and gross."
While the marketing has attempted to play coy, keeping the famous villain in the shadows as much as possible, "Prey" will no doubt prove to be worth it once audiences get a look at just what the creative team has done to make Predators scary again. While it's a massive bummer that most will never get to see this film on the big screen, "Prey" will stream exclusively on Hulu beginning August 5, 2022.