‘Prey’ – Dan Trachtenberg on How One Character from the Original Inspired His New ‘Predator’ Movie

20th Century Studios brings Dan Trachtenberg‘s (10 Cloverfield Lane) Prey exclusively to Hulu on August 5, a brand new take on the Predator franchise that focuses on all new characters.

But one character from the original 1987 movie actually did inspire the entire approach to Prey, Trachtenberg reveals in a new interview with Empire Magazine (via AvP Galaxy).

“In third grade, I was on the way to a karate tournament with these [older kids] who had seen [Predator], and over the entire trip they described the whole movie. I vividly remember them saying there was this character, Billy [Sonny Landham], a Native American scout who fights the Predator on the bridge over a waterfall.”

“That image captured my imagination,” Trachtenberg continues, with Empire Magazine noting that the image subsequently served as the basis for his own movie all these years later.

Trachtenberg explains, “I wanted to shift the focus to someone who would normally be a sidekick. In Predator, Billy was just one of the men on the team. In Prey, we’re watching someone lead this movie that has never led this type of movie before.”

Original Predator actor Sonny “Billy Sole” Landham, who was of half Cherokee and one-eighth Seminole descent, passed away in August 2017 at the age of 76 from heart failure.

Head over to AvP Galaxy for two new images from Prey!

Amber Midthunder (“Legion”) stars in Hulu’s upcoming Predator prequel movie Prey as a Comanche woman who goes against gender norms and traditions to become a warrior.