Director Dan Trachtenberg talking to actors on the set of Predator: Badlands

Predator: Badlands Director Dan Trachtenberg Takes Us Behind The Scenes In An Exclusive Interview

13 March 2026

Discover how being a little brother influenced his sci-fi storytelling, what it was like working with Elle Fanning, and more unexpected insights about the latest Predator movie

What if the scariest, most-legendary hunter in the galaxy was also the one you’re rooting for? Predator: Badlands gives viewers that feeling by changing the perspective, and Director Dan Trachtenberg tells us how (and why) he did it in this exclusive interview. Predator: Badlands is now streaming, as of February 12 on Disney+.

Watch Our Exclusive Interview With Predator: Badlands Director Dan Trachtenberg

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Go Deeper Into Our Conversation With Dan & See The Full Q&A Below

A still from Predator: Badlands featuring Thia (Elle Fanning) and Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) exploring near a waterfall — Predator: Badlands, Hulu

Predator: Badlands introduces a new perspective to this iconic franchise. What was your inspiration for bringing it to life?

Dan Trachtenberg: My biggest inspiration for making Badlands was the science fiction movies I grew up watching, including Predator, and falling in love with the creatures. My favourite characters in sci-fi are the sidekicks, and in Predator's case, the villains.

I thought it would be awesome to make a movie where the creature is the protagonist, that the ferocious most-badass hunter in all the galaxy is the guy you're rooting for.

And Dek and Thia’s look throughout the movie was directly inspired by Chewbacca carrying broken C-3PO on his back [in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back].

What was your favourite scene to shoot or create, and why does it stick out to you?

Trachtenberg: One of my favorite moments is the campfire sequence, when Bud starts mimicking Dek. It’s almost a shot-for-shot remake of a similar sequence in Jaws.

In this movie filled with spine rips, beheadings, limbs being pulled apart, and crazy creatures, we have this character-oriented, tender moment between two creatures.

Not a creature and a human, not two humans, but two creatures. I really love how that turned out.

What was it like directing Elle as she portrayed two characters and how did you keep them distinct?

Trachtenberg: It was easy in that the characters were so different from one another. What was funny was, in talking about it with Elle, I would be like, “and then you say…and then you're this…and then you say that.” And then I’d go, “I mean, Thia or Tessa said.” We could never get the names right, and it was complicated to communicate about it. But that aside, the characters were so well drawn and so dynamically different that their portrayals were a little bit easier to sink our teeth into.

What character from the movie do you relate to most and why?

Trachtenberg: They're all a little bit of a piece of me. I consider myself an optimist, like Thia. I've certainly experienced the feeling of being pushed aside, like Dek is, and feeling that yearn to prove oneself.

I don't know if I'm anything like Bud. But I'm the baby of four so I've been an annoying little brother like he is.

If someone’s streaming Predator: Badlands as their first movie in the Predator universe, how do you want them to walk away feeling about it and the franchise in general?

Trachtenberg: I'm thrilled that they're watching a Predator movie.... They hopefully see that “Predator” means so much more than just an Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie from the 80s or just this scary-looking creature. Especially with the last three that I've done, they're very unique stories that are emotional and badass.