Arnold Schwarzenegger was the bona fide action star of the ‘80s and ‘90s with hits like The Terminator, Commando, Last Action Hero, Conan the Barbarian, and more. He was also the bulky lead of the ‘80s classic sci-fi action film Predator, which spawned the eponymous franchise and is currently seeing a revival with Predator: Killer of Killers.
While the franchise went into B-movie territory with the Alien crossover, it had a return to form with the 2010 threequel, Predators. Starring Adrien Brody, the film saw humans being put into the extraterrestrial monsters’ planet as part of a survival game. Brody was reportedly approached for a different part, but he convinced the makers to cast him as the lead.
Adrien Brody convinced the Predators makers to cast him as the lead by invoking Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator | Credits: 20th Century Fox
It is pretty obvious that Adrien Brody and Arnold Schwarzenegger are not of the same body type. It is not body shaming; they’re just different. Schwarzenegger was a bodybuilder first and a record-breaking Mr. Olympia. Though things have obviously changed with time, the star’s physique made him the perfect fit for an action movie like Predator.
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Schwarzenegger’s physique in Predator is massive, and with his military gear, he always looks combat-ready. But outsmarting the antagonistic extraterrestrial is not just a matter of who has the biggest gun and muscle, but also who has the biggest brains. The star had to use his mind to get ahead of the alien and defeat it before it killed everyone.
Adrien Brody in Predators | Credits: 20th Century Fox
Adrien Brody reportedly used the same logic to convince the makers of the 2010 sequel, Predators, to cast him as the lead character, Royce. A fan of the Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Brody told Variety that he was first approached for a different part in the film.
They wanted me to play another part, and I advocated for why I’m right to play Royce and why soldiers don’t often look like Schwarzenegger. And it’s more about an emotional hardness and a military tactical awareness and intelligence, and that ultimately was what defeated the Predator, even in the Schwarzenegger film, not his brawn.
Brody was successful in convincing the makers, and he got to be the lead in the movie. A moderate commercial success with a 65% Rotten Tomatoes score, the film turned out to be good for Brody, who could break out of his dramatic actor persona for a while.
Adrien Brody had space to return in a Predators sequel that would tie in to the Alien franchise
A still from Predators | Credits: 20th Century Fox
It is quite telling that none of the human characters in the Predator franchise have been able to return in a sequel, except, of course, the Predator itself. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger left the franchise after the first movie, and it is still running, with Predator: Badlands set to be released this year.
Related: Why ‘Predator: Killer of Killers’ Has Convinced Me Arnold Schwarzenegger Can Return After Nasty Fallout With the Franchise
However, Adrien Brody was reportedly set to return in a Predators sequel along with Alice Braga, playing Royce and Isabelle. Writer Alex Litvak mentioned that he and producer Robert Rodriguez had pitched an idea for a sequel to Fox Studios, and it involved a crossover with the Alien franchise (via AvPGalaxy).
At the end of Act One, Royce, Isabelle, and their guys are captured by Super Predators…and are brought to their ship that they use to funnel people to this planet…At the end of the day, we win, we get back to Earth, we land, and we realise it’s the future…The hatch opens, and the Space [Colonial] Marines come in…the Alien and Predator world finally merge and bring the Space Marines into the story.
Litvak labelled the events on the ship as ‘Die Hard in space’ and even said that the Fox executive they pitched it to was excited about the idea. And, it does sound like a great, Planet of the Apes-esque way of bridging the two worlds together properly. However, they never got the green light to work on the script, and the sequel was never made.
Predators is available to stream on Hulu and Disney+.
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