We can thank one of the original Predator movie’s most memorable characters for Prey, the fifth installment of the iconic movie series. In the new film, Amber Midthunder stars as a Comanche woman fighting back against a Predator who targets her tribe in 1719. Some elements in the film may have fans thinking back to Billy Sole, the half-Sioux warrior played by the late Sonny Landham in the first Predator.
As it turns out, that is no accident, as Prey was born as an idea that came from an admiration for Sonny Landham and his character. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, director Dan Trachtenberg explained where the idea for Prey came from, revealing how it started with wanting to see more of the Billy character and his backstory.
That idea would eventually morph into going back in time to explore a new cast of characters in a Comanche tribe. However, it’s still “spiritually” a movie made in honor of Sonny Landham and Billy.
“I was in third grade when Predator came out, and I was not allowed to see R-rated movies. So then I found myself in the back of a carpool on the way to a karate tournament with all the sixth graders who had just seen Predator, and they spent the entire ride telling me the entire movie.
And I vividly remembered that they said there was a scene where Billy, the Native American tracker, stood on a bridge over a waterfall and fought the Predator. But when I eventually saw the movie, that scene was not in it. (Laughs.) The beginning of it is, but then it cuts away.
So the seed was planted, and then I thought, “Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a movie that focuses on that character’s story?” And Prey isn’t exactly that, but it is, spiritually.”
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Prey is now streaming on Hulu; you can watch the official trailer below.
Synopsis: A skilled Comanche warrior protects her tribe from a highly evolved alien predator that hunts humans for sport, fighting against wilderness, dangerous colonisers and this mysterious creature to keep her people safe.