Get to the CHOPPERRRR!  Yes, indeed.  More than 25 years after the original Predator was released starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Fox is gearing up for a fresh relaunch of the classic sci-fi action film.  The franchise is getting a reboot and it looks the project just got off to a big start as Shane Black, the writer-director of Iron Man 3, has signed on to direct the picture.

Black will also co-write the script alongside Fred Dekker, with whom he wrote the 1987 cult-classic The Monster Squad.

There have been several continuations of the Predator films in recent years, the most recent being 2010’s Predators starring Adrien Brody and Laurence Fishburne.  And let’s not forget the Alien and Predator crossovers AVP: Alien Vs. Predator (2004) and its sequel Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem (2007).  All of these films have managed to be successful, keeping conservative budgets and targeted advertising directed to fans here and abroad.

It seems fitting that a cast member of the original Predator (Black played Hawkins alongside Schwarzenegger) be the one to help Fox take the franchise to new heights.  There has been no word yet on the cast, but the news of Black directing is a step in the right direction if this new retelling is to take hold and have a strong chance of success.  Black is currently working on putting a cast together for his noir thriller The Nice Guys, which has Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe circling to play the two leads, and he has a number of other directing projects in the works as well, including DC Comics’ Doc Savage.  

We’ll look forward to more information on the Predator front as this story develops.