It’s become standard procedure nowadays for studios to order “reshoots”—or more accurately additional photography—on big budget films. It’s also become standard procedure for these efforts to be overblown as a sign of trouble. Sometimes it is, as was the case with Justice League, and sometimes it’s just a matter of adding a few key scenes like with Star Wars: The Last Jedi. But reshoots in and of themselves are not necessarily a problem, regardless of how extensive they are. Star Wars: The Force Awakens famously went through some pretty major reshoots (albeit very under wraps), and that worked out just fine.
Which brings us to today’s news. Filmmaker Shane Black’s highly anticipated sequel The Predator recently underwent some reshoots, which were teased on social media by a few cast members and Black himself. And now co-star Keegan-Michael Key has provided some details on those reshoots, revealing that they actually reworked the film’s third act quite heavily.
Speaking with Cinemablend, Key talked about the reshoots and the brilliance of Black:
“We just finished [reshoots] last week, and just about three-quarters of the third act was rewritten. And Shane Black is... he's just a consummate professional, and a consummate writer. He's a wordsmith! It was a really, really exhilarating experience, and I think that he's still one of our most vibrant writers of cinema.”
Again, reshoots in and of themselves are not exactly something to worry about, especially when Shane Black is the one writing the new pages. Indeed, that’s actually more reason to be excited. As opposed to a Rogue One situation where Tony Gilroy not only reworked the script but also secretly directed the extensive reshoots, or Justice League where Zack Snyder was replaced, The Predator here has its original co-writer/director still spearheading things.
Black is very meticulous when it comes to plotting and dialogue, as evidenced by his complex yet compelling narratives for films like Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, The Nice Guys, and Iron Man 3, so no doubt he’s simply looking for ways to improve the Predator sequel. We know the 20th Century Fox film is going to be R-rated and Black has teased a commercial-type film, so it’s nice to hear that the reshoots went smoothly.
We’re due to get a first look at the film via a trailer soon, probably next month attached to Deadpool 2, so we’ll have a better idea of what to expect then. For now, that September 14th release date can’t get here any sooner.
