The Predator Director on the "Shifting Tone" of Upcoming Reboot

The Predator reboot is shaping up to be something very different from the previous movies in the sci-fi action franchise. Director and co-writer Shane Black has already revealed that The Predator will be made on a much bigger scale than its predecessors, and has now spoken about the film's tone.

In an interview with Den of Geek to promote his new film The Nice Guys, Black revealed that The Predator's influences would come from unexpected places. "The sensibility will be part noir, part mystery, and part Close Encounters," he said. "The feeling I loved about Close Encounters was, you had this ordinary guy, Roy Neary, to whom this is all new. I think the danger of a Predator sequel is that it's not new to anybody anymore. That it's too familiar--we have to find a way to make him mysterious again."

Black went on to explain that finding the right balance between the story's different elements would be key to its success. "I think the tone shifting is important," he said. "This one is going to be very scary if I get it right, and hopefully also there'll be some humour in it. The first one had humour in it, so you really got engaged with this group of guys.

"We'll cast very carefully. We'll get a group of people against the monster that I think you're gonna enjoy spending time with."

Earlier this month, Black hinted that the Predator's iconic armour would look a little different this time round. "We're doing a lot of upgrades to what you would consider to be the traditional Predator technology," he told ComingSoon. "It's not to 'improve,' it's make it fun, make it different, make it organically different. There have been a lot of changes to [the] design over the years. These different Predator movies have done different things. [But] ultimately it's not about design to me, it's about the story you want to tell."

Black himself appeared in the original Predator, the 1987 smash starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by John McTiernan. To date there have been four further films, including the direct sequel Predator 2, two Alien vs. Predator movies, and 2010's Robert Rodriguez-produced Predators.

The Predator is set to be released on March 2, 2018.