Iron Man 3 Director Shane Black To Reboot Predator Franchise

Good news for fans of jungle based alien carnage, as Iron Man 3 director Shane Black is set to direct a reboot of the Predator franchise. It's nearly 30 years since Black was asked to help on the script of the original 80s action classic, he said no then despite being given a small role in the movie. Now the Lethal Weapon and Monsters Squad writer appears ready to return to the concept. Black's last project was Iron Man 3, another successful entry into the Marvel Universe. Black was widely praised for handling the comic-book hero with the panache that saw him direct Tony Stark actor Robert Downey Jr successfully in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The film made over $1.2bn on a $200m budget. The original Predator was released in 1987 and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers and Jesse Ventura as commandos battling a deadly and seemingly unstoppable alien life-form in the Central American jungle. A 1990 sequel, Predator 2, was critically panned and less financially successful, before a number of films saw the Predator battle the chest-bursters from Aliens. The most recent attempt to reboot the franchise came in 2010 with Predators. Directed by Nimrod Antal and produced by Robert Rodriguez, it received mixed to positive reviews and did steadily at the box-office. However with the move for another reboot it seems clear that 20th Century Fox have something bigger in mind. The move to allow Black to direct Predator will reassure fans after those inferior entries in the Fox franchise that the studio is serious about the movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Black will hand over the scripting Fred Dekker, with whom he wrote the comedy-horror Monster Squad, however he will oversee the writing and is attached to direct the movie. There's no word yet on how the movie will tie-in with the rest of the franchise, but fans will hope to see Schwarzenegger return to the franchise that cemented his power as one of Hollywood's greatest action heroes.