When we first learned that there was a reboot to the Predator franchise in the works, I was hedging my bets. Sure, the mere thought of the Predator carries some degree of inherent excitement, but a mediocre sequel to the first Predator, followed by two aesthetically failed Alien vs. Predator installments had hardened me. The one string of hope I held onto after that announcement was the fact that Robert Rodriguez, though not assuming the director's chair, was heading the project as producer. Gradually, over the months following the original announcement, I began to be won over by the details about the film and finally by the trailer and concept art released at the South by Southwest film festival.

There are a number of things that drew me into full excitement over Predators, and one of them has been simply the look and feel of the trailers and sneak peeks we've been shown. None of the franchise's installments since the original film have taken such a natural, realistic approach to the setting in which the story takes place. Despite the fact that this reboot (which really seems to be more of a quasi-reboot than a full reset) takes place on a distant planet, the setting is that of a jungle. I'm sure there will be occasional alien flare, and this jungle is guaranteed to be inhabited by creatures that are anything but Earth-like, but overall, these events are taking place in a jungle like any other. Few as they may be, there merits to be found in the city settings we see in lesser installments like Predator 2 and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, but for the dark and bloody movie that Predators is aiming to be, it helps immensely to have something that is grittier but that is also familiar. With this setup, the film can introduce the characters to as harrowing a situation as possible without distracting viewers with alien surroundings.

One of Predators' production designers, Steve Joyner, recently took a few minutes off of helping Robert Rodriguez with Machete to talk with The Sci-Fi Block about Predators' production design. In our conversation, Joyner delves into his goals for the design of the film, the influence that the first movie has had on the look of this one, and the possibility of a Predators sequel.

I’m going to try something new here on SFB. This is something I’ve done from time to time myself ever since the series finale of The Sopranos -- examine an upcoming work from the perspective of a writer and within the context of similar and related works, applying everything we know about it, and try to determine how it will end (it should be noted that I failed horribly, as you can probably guess, when I tried this with The Sopranos). Because theoretically, unless the writers just go crazy nuts, it should be possible to figure these things out with some accuracy.

Let’s try it with Predators.