Arnold Schwarzenegger and Predator shepherd Dan Trachtenberg have “met a couple of times” about bringing Dutch back to the franchise, producer Ben Rosenblatt revealed while promoting this week’s Predator: Badlands. Rosenblatt called Arnold the “holy grail” and said more conversations could happen after Badlands opens, making clear there’s enthusiasm—but no deal.

This tracks with Trachtenberg’s earlier comments that he’s already sat down with Schwarzenegger and that the actor was “excited to talk about what else we could do” with Dutch following recent story developments. Trachtenberg even shared the most-yelled line he hears from fans via Arnold himself: not “I’ll be back,” but “Get to the chopper!”

Why talk of Dutch makes sense right now

The franchise has quietly set the table for a comeback. In the animated anthology Predator: Killer of Killers, an end reveal showed Dutch (alongside Predator 2’s Harrigan and Prey’s Naru) in stasis—an obvious on-ramp for future stories in either animation or live action. That twist is exactly the kind of thing Trachtenberg has referenced while teasing “many possibilities.”

Meanwhile: Predator: Badlands lands this week

Trachtenberg’s Predator: Badlands hits theaters on November 7, 2025, shifting perspective to the Yautja and pairing a young Predator with an android ally. Early coverage has highlighted the film’s unusual POV and PG-13 approach (no humans, no red blood), while first reviews are rolling in now.

October had the worst box office receipts for that month since 1997 (not including the pandemic). 

Where were y’all last month? Horror fans do their best to support their genre and their movies at the box office. They literally supported theaters during Covid and helped modernize home viewing protocols: remember the concurrent theatrical and streaming release of Invisible Man in 2020?  

But October is our month and yet we didn’t show up. Albeit the horror offerings were scarce, but even a big title like Black Phone 2 underperformed. 

It’s sad that despite great word of mouth Good Boy wasn’t bigger and the mixed hype behind Shelby Oaks swung more toward the negative. To be fair, those movies weren’t on as many screens, living in limited release hell. 

But there’s no excuse for Black Phone 2 which opened mid-month, and yes, a cumulative $61 million domestically thus far isn’t small potatoes, but consider that Conjuring: Last Rites just a month prior made $84 million on its first day! Black Phone 2 is in its third week.

Also horror fans may love their genre but they aren’t one trick ponies. They show up for other genres too. Since most of us also like sci-fi, it was kind of a surprise Tron: Ares derezzed on impact. Although Jared Leto isn’t exactly on anyone’s good list lately. 

There is one positive note for horror fans in October, but it’s on the small screen. HBO’s It Welcome to Derry has come out of the gate strong. A shocking first episode and a promising follow-up should gain positive word of mouth. 

Hollywood is in its awkward transitional period. Studios don’t seem to know how to appease this new generation of distracted theatergoers. On one hand, they’ve got all these great titles on the slate, but on the other, the death of the blockbuster hype machine is killing all intrigue. Furthermore, the trend of giving away the movie in trailers is a weird decision Hollywood is making to their detriment. 

Now that the holiday movie vibes are upon us, perhaps the box office can recover from an abysmal October. We’ve got Wicked, Avatar 3, Predator: Badlands and The Running Man to look forward to. 

Mustachioed actor Kyle Gallner is going in front of the camera again, but this time he’s also doing things behind it. 

Kyle has written a monster movie script titled Man Vs, a survival horror film about a guy going up against nature and the supernatural. 

Deadline gives us the synopsis, it reads: “Betrayed and left to die in an unforgiving Rocky Mountain winter, an injured gold rush miner (Gallner) must use everything at his disposal to survive the elements, wild animals, and a looming, ancient danger far more terrifying than anything he could imagine.”

The movie is being backed by some of horror’s heavy hitters, including Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin for Radio Silence (Scream), Ben Ross (Late Night with the Devil) and Josh Goldbloom (V/H/S/Beyond). Justin Martinez, co-founder of Radio Silence, will direct. 

 “Man Vs has everything I love in a survival movie and takes it to another level. Kyle has written a fantastic creature feature and I’m excited to bring it to life for the world,” Martinez told Deadline. 

Gallner has become a name associated with horror in the past few years. He’s starred in fan favorites Strange Darling and Smile. But his career is actually full of roles in horror movies such as Scream (2022), The Cleansing Hour, and The Passenger. 

“Horror is a totally different animal. It’s intense. You can do drama or comedies, but in horror, you really have to trick yourself into believing a lot of unbelievable phenomena,” Gallner reportedly has said.

No word on when Man Vs will go into production and no release date has been announced.