Did you think “Predator” was an original film? Partly yes, but the character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger is inspired by the hero of “Commando”, released two years earlier. We’ll explain it to you.
In 1987, Arnold Schwarzenegger faced a new kind of monster, which would become one of the most successful creatures in the fantastic bestiary: the Predator. This alien hunter with an arsenal as developed as his taste for human trophies (initially played by a very young Jean-Claude Van Damme who left the project during filming) allows Schwarzie to deliver an epic and primal duel, in front of the camera of the brilliant John McTiernan.
Crowned with great critical and public success (100 million dollars in revenue worldwide, 1.4 million spectators in France), the feature film, at the crossroads of science fiction and war film, launches without the namely a franchise which still continues thirty-seven years later. Thus, after Predator 2 (1990), Predators (2010), The Predator (2018), Prey (2022) and two crossovers with the Alien saga, a new opus called Badlands is in preparation for Disney+.
The hunt is on
Predator was born from the pens of brothers Jim and John Thomas. According to Hollywood legend, the tandem was inspired by a joke circulating at the time about an improbable clash between Sylvester Stallone (then Schwarzenegger’s great rival) and an extraterrestrial in Rocky. Baptized Huntertheir script ended up on the desk of producer Joel Silver… and the rest is sci-fi history.
What is less known is that the concept of Predator was almost recycled in the script of a sequel: that of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s previous success, Commando. In this action feature film released two years earlier, the “Austrian Oak” plays John Matrix, a former Special Forces force forced to come out of retirement after the kidnapping of his daughter by the deposed dictator of Val Verde. Far from being the best of his filmography, Commando is however distinguished by cult punchlines and a record number of deaths for Schwarzie (81, the highest total of his career).
Twentieth Century Fox
Predator is Commando 2!
Therefore, what could possibly be the relationship between Commando And Predator ? It was the screenwriter Jeph Loeb, illustrious author of comics and series and screenwriter of Commando in his early days, who provided the answer to AlloCiné as part of the Paris Fan Festival where he was invited (read our entire interview here ). The original Predator scenario was thus close to being recycled in Commando 2with John Matrix confronting an alien:
“It wasn’t our idea, but I thought it was a good idea. The studio had gotten the script for Predator, and they initially thought the best way to do it was to make it a Commando 2. (…) If you look at Commando then Predator, you will see that it is the same character, even if his name changes (John Matrix becomes Dutch Schaefer, Editor’s note). But it’s John Matrix, the hero of Commando. He even wears the same camouflage outfit. (…) I have a version of Predator that says Commando 2.”
“And then someone else woke up and said, ‘No, we’re not going to do that.’ The reason they didn’t do it was because at the time, When they made sequels, the sequel usually made half of what the first movie made. Star Wars later started making sequels that were more successful than the first movie. like Terminator 2. But at the time, that wasn’t the case.”.
“The people at Fox then said to us, ‘We shouldn’t take Predator and turn it into Commando 2, because it will only make half of Commando. So why not start another franchise?’ It was a smart idea and that’s how Predator was born. They didn’t even need Arnold Schwarzenegger to make any more Predator movies, and that’s what they did. have never made Commando 2, but they have made a lot of Predator But that doesn’t mean there can’t be another Commando, we’ll see! (rumors on this subject circulated during the summer of 2023, Editor’s note).
Crystal Trap almost became Commando 2!
This judicious choice by Fox executives therefore deprived John Matrix of a new mission but offered sci-fi fans an unforgettable creature. The hero of Commando even experienced a second disillusionment, since the novel Nothing Lasts Forever written by Roderick Thorp in 1979 almost served as the basis for Commando 2, with an urban approach confronting the soldier with a group of German terrorists taking hostages in a building in Los Angeles. This story, which you probably recognized, will become Crystal Trap with Bruce Willis.
In the meantime, this improbable and little-known connection between Commando and Predator could explain why they share the same fictional country: Val Verde. An imaginary country in Central America which is also mentioned in… 58 minutes to live, the sequel to Crystal Trap. Everything is connected !
Origin Story – The Predator
Comments collected by Yoann Sardet at the Paris Fan Festival on April 28, 2024 – Thanks to the entire press relations team for their welcome