The Predator has claimed its first victim and the film hasn’t even hit theatres yet. We got word this weekend that the film’s sizeable ensemble cast has become just a bit smaller, as Edward James Olmos has been axed in favour of a shorter runtime. Olmos’ participation in Shane Black’s reboot of 1987’s Predator was first announced back in March 2017, though his character/role was never revealed (and now, of course it doesn’t matter).
The lauded actor and Los Angeles native had previously gushed about The Predator; here’s what he said on the subjecting November 2017:
“Oh, my goodness. That’s an interesting story. I haven’t seen any of it, but it’s gonna be funny. The kids in the thing. Yeah, the humor. Huge. Huge. I mean I was in shock, because, you know this is a really intense franchise, and it still is. Don’t get me wrong. You’re gonna be inside of it. But the characters are… what he did — Shane is an incredibly gifted writer, and he’s a great director, and so he ended up getting an incredible ensemble, and when I reached it they had already been filming for three months so they were a unit. So I jump in as the General and there were some moments where I just had to laugh in the scene and I couldn’t be laughing in the scene. ‘I’m sorry guys. Really, I’m sorry.’
“Because Keegan (Michael Key) and Thomas Jane, they make… they’re paired off in groups of three groups. Six guys. The way they work, they were all post-traumatic stress disorder guys who were inside of an insane asylum. A mental hospital. Then they put the lead character in there to kind of make them disappear, because they want them kind of out of the picture. And so he gets involved and then boom, the world goes crazy and these kids are released. But out of a freaky incident with some of the Predators. It’s crazy. It’s so crazy. I’m excited for it, and I don’t know what’s gonna happen. I got a good feeling about it. I mean if it’s really funny, and yet deadly like Predator is.”
Olmos broke the news of his ouster himself, explaining:
“I’m not in the show though. It was too long so my character, they had to take me out. They were like half an hour, 3/4 of an hour too long. So I understand why.”
The Predator will finally invade US Theatres on September 14th; give the trailer and synopsis a spin below.
Synopsis:
From the outer reaches of space to the small-town streets of suburbia, the hunt comes home. The universe’s most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before, having genetically upgraded themselves with DNA from other species. When a boy accidentally triggers their return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled science teacher can prevent the end of the human race.
Words: Josh Millican (@josh_millican)
