by See: Dan Trachtenberg on Exchange violence and create original franchise films
Director Dan Trachtenberg says there was never a suggestion that his The predator film Exchange should tone down its violence to secure a PG-13 certificate.
The 10 Cloverfield Lane The filmmaker’s film dives back in time to portray a group of Comanche warriors, including Amber Midthunder’s heroine Naru, who fight to survive when a Predator comes close to their home.
It’s a visceral and gory action tale – and rated 16 on Disney+ – that marks it as something of an outlier in a Hollywood landscape that often prefers to blunt the edges of films to ensure a more permissive age limit.
Read more: Is Predator 2 a misunderstood masterpiece?
“The The predator franchise is really known to be very R-rated, with one exception in one of the AvP movies,” Trachtenberg told Yahoo.
He added: “The roots are in slasher film language, so I really wanted to embrace what I think people were starting to enjoy The predator Movies.
“I wanted to bring some more elements to it, but we had to embrace, I think, the brutality. Of course, that’s a key component of the franchise.”
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Trachtenberg is developing a reputation for unconventional spins on franchise material, having reinvented Cloverfield before and now delivers one The predator film unlike any previous entry in the series.
The 41-year-old said this trend in his career is “not intentional” but is a reflection of the dominance of franchise material in the film industry today.
Trachtenberg said, “Certainly it’s become the norm to make franchise movies. Most of the movies we make today—not all, but most of them—are centered around an IP, so I think it’s smart to use that as a platform to tell an original story.
“I’m certainly not the only one who does that in the long run. I think the Marvel movies have become a bit of a platform for every genre. I don’t think they’re all just superhero movies.
“It’s where we get our political thrillers and adventure films and our sci-fi. We get all the genres on a very unique platform. I tried to look at [Prey] that way too.”
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Despite taking on an established franchise with name recognition, Trachtenberg said his more enigmatic title was in place from the original pitch, which he sent to 20th Century Studios while they were still making Shane Black’s 2018 film The predator.
Trachtenberg said, “I thought the only chance this film had to get into production as soon as possible—which is always of interest to a director—was to say that whatever you make with The predator franchise, you can also make this movie – kind of like how Rogue One and Solo came out next to the main room [Star Wars] trilogy.
“I thought it was better to give them a title that would reflect that perception. That title just stuck because, of course, it works so similarly The predator.
“It has the same double meaning, but also suggests that this is its own thing as well.”
Read more: A brief history of The predator franchise
Exchange has a brief tease for a sequel during the animated credits, and while Trachtenberg said there’s “nothing to talk about” in terms of a follow-up, he admitted he “would love to do more The predator movies, of course”.
Whatever happens next, his first attempt at Exchange is available to stream via Disney+ from August 5.
See: Trailer for The predator precursor Exchange
