Predator (1987)

Predator is an American science fiction/horror film directed by John McTiernan. It was written by brothers Jim and John Thomas and produced by John Davis, Laurence P. Pereira and Joel Silver for Twentieth Century Fox. A sequel, Predator 2 was released in 1990, directed by Stephen Hopkins. Predator was released theatrically in the United States on June 12th, 1987. It was initially shown on 1,623 screens in the US, grossing $12,031,638 at the box office over its opening weekend, averaging $7,413 per theater. It ranked at #1 in total box office earnings for the weekend of June 12th.

Predator stars legendary action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger as Special Forces operative Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer. Along with Rocky alumni Carl Weathers, he leads a team of muscle-clad American soldiers into the jungles of Central America on the pretense of rescuing a presidential cabinet minister who had been abducted by guerrilla forces in Val Verde. After swapping gunfire and explosives with a group of Guatemalan rebels, Dutch and his crew learn that there is something more dangerous and deadly in the jungles than man. An alien hunter, camouflaging itself with hi-tech equipment begins picking them off one at a time, skinning their bodies and claiming their skulls as trophies. Dutch must use his wits as well as his muscle if he even has a hope of surviving against the eight-foot Predator.

Notes & Trivia

 * Production on Predator began on April 14th, 1986. It was filmed primarily in Jalisco, Mexico with some scenes shot in Palenque, Chiapas.


 * Predator opened in the United States on the same day as George Miller's The Witches of Eastwick.


 * Predator premiered in the UK on January 1st, 1988.


 * Predator is included in AFI's America's Most Heart-Pounding Movies top-100 list.


 * Movie aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes gives Predator a 76% positive rating based on a total of 37 reviews; 28 positive and 9 negative.
 * Steve Boyum, William H. Burton, Peter Cullen, Henry Kingi and Sven-Ole Thorsen are all uncredited for their participation in this film.


 * Famed voice actor Peter Cullen provided the voice for the Predator. Peter is best known for his staccato voice patterns used for heroic robot Optimus Prime in the Transformers cartoon and film franchise. In horror, Cullen also provided the guttural snarls and yelping howls of everybody's favorite giant gorilla, Kong, in the 1976 remake of King Kong. Cullen recalls how working on King Kong nearly destroyed his voice and he had vowed to never again do another monster voice. His agent however, convinced him to lend his talents to the trilling sounds of the Predator.


 * Bodybuilder, actor and competitive strong man Sven-Ole Thorsen is a close colleague of Arnold Schwarzenegger and has appeared in many films with him including Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer, Red Sonja, Raw Deal, The Running Man, Red Heat, Twins and Eraser.