Predator: Badlands is set to release on November 7, 2025, and reviews have begun to pour in, posting the weakest mark yet for Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator films, but still scoring extremely high overall.
What are critics saying about Predator: Badlands?
Over on Rotten Tomatoes, Predator: Badlands debuted with an 87%, which ranks third-highest amongst the entirety of the Predator franchise. As far as Predator films directed by Trachtenberg, though, the film is actually the lowest of the three, scoring just under Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers.
Despite the lower score, though, Badlands is getting largely nothing but praise. The Hollywood Reporter’s Richard Lawson said the film strives to be “the best version of a zillionth Predator installment that it can be,” while TheWrap’s William Bibbiani said that the movie is proof “that big, expensive action spectacles don’t have to suck.”
Rolling Stone’s David Fear said the movie has a “comedic road movie” at its heart, “with as much yuks over a mismatched pair trying to get along as yucks involving the goopy innards of cosmic mastodons.” ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim also praised the movie, saying it “manages to give you what you wanted and what you didn’t know you wanted from a Predator film.”
Predator: Badlands is directed and produced by Dan Trachtenberg, who co-wrote the screenplay with Patrick Aison, based on characters created by Jim Thomas and John Thomas. This marks Trachtenberg’s third Predator project after previously helming the 2022 prequel Prey and the adult animated Disney+ movie Killers of Killers. It is produced by John Davis, Marc Toberoff, Ben Rosenblatt, and Brent O’Connor. The movie has received a surprising PG-13 rating, making it the first in the main Predator franchise to not be rated R.
“Set in the future on a deadly remote planet, Badlands follows a young Predator outcast (played by newcomer Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) who finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Elle Fanning) as he embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary,” reads the film’s official synopsis.
Originally reported by Anthony Nash for SuperHeroHype.
