Talks have fallen through between Benicio Del Toro and the powers that be for his reported casting in Shane Black’s Predator film, which he has confirmed to not be a reboot, but more of a continuation of the story started in the original 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dutch, a mercenary for hire who ends up in a devil’s dance with an alien killing machine.
All is not lost though as Boyd Holbrook is reportedly in talks to replace Del Toro. Holbrook came to prominence after his stellar performance on Netflix’s hit series Narcos (which is currently available for streaming on Netflix ). He will also play a prominent role in Hugh Jackman’s final Wolverine film, Logan.
It is reported that the studio is aware of his lack of star power compared to del Toro and are looking to remedy that by beefing up the cast that will support Holbrook’s character with top Hollywood talent.
Del Toro’s schedule is said to be the main issue as had always proven a difficulty with his commitment to the Sicario sequel among other projects (Star Wars EP VIII for example which only wrapped filming not too long ago) causing an issue. Production was slated to begin last month in Vancouver but was pushed back to February in order to accommodate the actor.
With Del Toro no longer attached to the project now, it is unclear if the production date will be moved up or remain at the February projected start date.
The working Title of the film has been revealed to be Ollie. No further details are available at this time, but be sure to check at Monkeys Fighting Robots for updates as they become available.
Predator is a 1987 film Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dutch, a soldier of fortune who is hired by the U.S. government to secretly rescue a group of politicians trapped in Guatemala. But when Dutch and his team, which includes weapons expert Blain (Jesse Ventura) and CIA agent George (Carl Weathers), land in Central America, something is gravely wrong. After finding a string of dead bodies, the crew discovers they are being hunted by a brutal creature with superhuman strength and the ability to disappear into its surroundings.
SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
