It's not every day you get a trailer for a new, live-action Predator movie, but today is one of those days. 20th Century Studios just released the first teaser for Predator: Badlands, a feature film that unconventionally makes the classic movie monster a protagonist.
The film follows Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a young member of the predator species and society who has been banished. He'll work closely with a Weyland-Yutani Android named Thia (Elle Fanning) to take down "the ultimate adversary," which the trailer dubs a creature that "can't be killed." The adversary looks like a very large monster we haven't seen before, judging from a few shots in the trailer.
Some or all of the film is rumored to take place on the Predator home world, and the movie intends to greatly expand on the mythology around the Predators' culture, language, and customs. It's intended as a standalone movie in the Predator/Alien universe.
Nicole Kidman probably wants you to watch movie trailers.
AMC Theatres
A new bill introduced in Connecticut would force movie theaters to list a movie's "real" start time.
This would mean you could time your visit to skip the ads and trailers before finding your seat.
Boo! Hiss! Trailers are part of the magic of moviegoing.
Imagine you're Nicole Kidman, wearing a sparkling dark suit, entering an empty theater. You take your seat with your big soda, the flickering light illuminating your face. Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this. The joy and thrill of seeing a movie in the theater always comes with a moment of anticipation: the trailers that come before the movie.
And yes, sometimes now, even ads. But watching these, that's just part of the experience, right? We go in knowing that there will be a few minutes before the movie starts. As a chronically late person, I find this buffer of an extra 10 or so minutes useful.
One lawmaker from Connecticut is trying to change this.
State Sen. Martin M. Looney, a Democrat representing New Haven in the Connecticut State Senate, has proposed a bill that would require movie theaters to list the real start times of a movie — not when the trailers start.
This means that a theater's website would have to list both the time the ads or trailers begin and the time the actual film begins — something like:
"A Complete Unknown" 7:00 p.m. (film starts at 7:08 p.m.)
Looney did not respond to a request for comment from BI, but he told the Register Citizen, which first reported on the bill: "It seems to be an abuse of people's time. If they want to get there early and watch the promos, they can. But if they just want to see the feature, they ought to be able to get there just in time for that."
Sure, we've all been slightly frustrated having to sit through not just trailers but also regular advertisements when we paid for a ticket just to see a movie. But to me, sitting through the previews feels like a small price to pay for the pleasures of moviegoing.
(Although like much in politics, it's a divisive issue. Several of my colleagues love the idea of knowing a movie's true start time.)
Ads and trailers also are a part of revenue for some theaters at a time when movie ticket sales have not recovered from the start of the pandemic, and as streaming has eaten into their business.
A spokesperson for the National Association of Theatre Owners declined to comment about the bill.
The trailers before the main attraction also allow movie lovers to learn about new movies. An EMARKETER report based on a YouGov poll from late last year found that in-theater trailers or ads were the No. 3 most likely way people saw promotions for new movies in the US and Canada — after TV and social media.
Some theaters aren't thrilled by the idea.
Ryan Wenke, CEO of the Prospector Theater in Ridgefield, Connecticut, which is a nonprofit that employs adults with disabilities, told Business Insider that their movies typically start about five minutes after listed showtimes.
"I hope the 2025 legislative session prioritizes more pressing issues like disability rights and employment opportunities for underrepresented populations," Wenke said.
