‘The Predator’ Ending Sets Up a Sequel, But It Might Not Matter

The Predator, the newest movie in the popular monster franchise, comes to theaters this weekend with the promise of these extraterrestrial hunters severely fucking up every human who they cross path with. But beyond wondering if Predators have finally gained the ability to see through mud, you may find yourself asking a key question: Are more Predator movies coming? It’s a fair question. After all, in this current era of blockbusters, nearly every big-budget action movie sets itself up for a sequel. Does The Predator follow this trend or buck the trend by telling a story that serves as a standalone experience? We have the answer.

WARNING: Obviously, there are some major plot spoilers coming your way so please abandon ship if you want to walk into the film completely blind.

Towards the end of The Predator, the evolved form of the Predator has been killed after an extremely goofy and confusing fight against super-sniper Quinn (Boyd Holbrook) and super-scientist Casey (Olivia Munn). But the movie doesn’t quite end there, instead, it takes us to the secret government lab at a later date, where Quinn visits his son Rory (Jacob Tremblay), who has apparently been hired by the government as a consultant despite being 10 years old.

Everything seems to have been neatly tied up in a bow, as Quinn is told that they are studying a mysterious contraption left behind by the good Predator when suddenly the escape pod-looking device begins to rumble. Everyone grows increasingly nervous and that fear is escalated when a piece of armor latches onto one of the scientists. But rather than kill the unsuspecting scientist, it instead expands to give him a full suit of technologically-advanced armor, which Rory calls the “Predator killer.” To ensure that any sense of subtlety is mercilessly slaughtered, Quinn turns to the head scientist and tells him that it will be his weapon for future Predator battles.

Confused? You should be. It’s a confusing ending. But all you really need to know is that the ending is basically the movie saying that it hopes this is just the first of many new Predator films. This should not come as much of a surprise, as sequels are the norm with modern blockbusters and this technically the third sequel in this franchise, despite having the distinct feel of a reboot. Plus, Director Shane Black has already expressed interest in doing more Predator films, cautiously voicing his hope that this could lead to a new trilogy that would likely feature a massive human vs. predator showdown.

But will any of this matter? It will all depend on how well the film performs at the box office. With a reported $88 million budget, the movie will likely need to cross $100 million in order to be considered profitable enough to justify a sequel. And giving the film’s middling reviews and relatively low box office predictions – most analysts are guessing an opening weekend of a little more than $25 million – it looks like The Predator will be fighting an uphill battle to get a sequel greenlit. Crazier things have certainly happened but don’t be shocked if this is the last Predator film we get for a while.