A new Alien vs. Predator

movie gets an intriguing tease from Alien: Romulus (2024) director Fede Alvarez. After both franchises found success on their own in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, the worlds of Alien and Predator first collided in 2004’s poorly-reviewed Alien vs. Predator from director Paul W. S. Anderson. A critically-panned sequel from directors Greg and Colin Strause followed in 2007 with the subтιтle Requiem, but this film’s dip at the box office killed chances for a third. Following the success of Prey (2022) and Alien: Romulus, however, both franchises have experienced a resurgence.

In a recent interview with Collider, Alvarez teases that another Alien vs. Predator movie isn’t completely off the table. While there are currently no firm plans to make such a movie, Alvarez already has an idea for what one might look like, and it would involve not telling audiences ahead of time that it was a crossover. Check out Alvarez’s comment about another Alien vs. Predator below:

“I can’t speak for [Prey director Dan Trachtenberg]. At some point, once there’s another Alien, and I know he’s working on a sequel to Prey, one day if we feel like, ‘Yeah, that’s what we cannot wait to see,’ I think that’s a movie we could do.”

“The way I would do it, most likely, if it could be done this way… It’s harder to keep secrets online… The best AVP will be the one that you don’t know is AVP until the other guy shows up. You think you’re watching a Predator movie, and then they land in some place and there are creatures, and f*cking hell, it’s a Xenomorph. That would get me. ‘F*ck yeah!’ You’d go crazy.

Or vice versa, you’re in an Alien movie, and then suddenly a mysterious creature is there, and you can hear that sound, and you see the cloak, and you go, ‘Is that a f*cking Predator?’ And then turns out it is. That would be the way to do it, don’t you think? Once you put it in the тιтle, it’s like, ‘Spoiler alert.’”

What Alvarez’s Comments Mean For Another Alien Vs. Predator

Why His Idea Would Be Hard To Pull Off

If there was ever a time for interest from executives in another Alien vs. Predator movie, it would be now. After a panned 2018 film, the world of Predator returned with the well-reviewed Prey in 2022 and Trachtenberg is now making Predator: Badlands, which is due out in November. Alien: Romulus reviews were also positive and the film was a big box office hit, and Alvarez has made clear that he plans to make a sequel. After a series of disappointing entries in both franchises, both IPs are now in positions of strength.

While Alvarez’s idea of keeping an Alien vs. Predator movie under wraps certainly sounds promising on paper, it does seem like a long sH๏τ. In today’s social media age, actually keeping this a secret would be mᴀssively challenging, and there would likely be leaks ahead of time revealing that either a Xenomorph or a Predator would be showing up in the other’s movie. And that’s not to mention the fact that studio executives would probably want to use the crossover as a marketing tool to get audiences into theaters to see it.

Our Take On A New Alien Vs. Predator Movie

Should The Franchises Remain Separate?

It could be exciting as an audience member to be surprised by an Alien vs. Predator crossover movie in a theater, but there’s an argument to be made that now isn’t the right time for a crossover. Both franchises clearly have momentum with these new filmmakers at the helm, and it’s almost more intriguing to see where Alvarez and Trachtenberg take these IPs on their own rather than mashing them together. Plus, neither of the previous Alien vs. Predator movies made a strong case for these franchises to cross over.

That being said, Alvarez and Trachtenberg’s involvement would mean that any new Alien vs. Predator movie would be in good hands. Even though previous attempts were arguably not successful, these new filmmakers could certainly find a way to make it work. It remains to be seen whether another Alien vs. Predator movie will actually happen, but it sounds like it might be a surprise if it does.

Source: Collider