Twenty years ago we all lost when Alien vs.
Predator fumbled the bag.
Now is the time for audiences to win with a great genre crossover.
Whoever wins, we lose, read the famous tagline forAlien vs.
Ask most critics in 2004, and they would insist that we did indeed lose.
The title alone betrays an entire Hollywood mindset of rehash, reheat, recombine.
Re-just, wrote Jessica Winter ofTime Out.
Of course the critics were wrong.
Lots of people wanted to seeAlien vs.
Predator, which made more than twice its budget at the box office.
So popular was the first movie that the even worse 2007 sequel,Alien vs.
Predator: Requiem, grossed $130 million on a $40 million budget.
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What did the critics misunderstand aboutAvP?
Andersonmovie, further hobbled by a PG-13 rating.
Its the most salacious selling point ofThe Most Dangerous Gamestreamlined for the Reagan Years and post-The Terminator.
Alien, on the other hand, garnered far more respect.
Today, the two franchises are on more equal footing.
But all of these came before our current period of IP curation.
The Perfect IP Machine
Trachtenbergs prequel moviePreyoffers a unique take on the Predator concept.
Prey revitalizes the franchise with compelling human characters and outstanding action sequences.
However, it also contains bits of fan service.
This combination of first-rate filmmaking and granular nerd stuff isnt unique toPrey.
Superhero movies devote hundreds of millions of dollars and A-list talent to stories aboutRocket Raccoonand thePolka Dot Man.
Disney regularly makes live-action-esque versions of their classic animated features, castingWill SmithasAladdinsGenie and Kevin Kline asBellesfather.
Anderson or the Brothers Strauss.
Moreover, it would get proper care.
Would it be anything on the level of the first few Alien movies or the firstPredator?
But it would be a proper movie, not an indifferent cash grab.
But Hollywoods gonna Hollywood, and theres no way that Disney will let such profitable IP lay fallow.
The respective franchises may lose, but at least well win.
