Thefilm opened in the United States on November 7, 2025. It premiered at TCL Chinese Theatre on November 3, 2025. Dan Trachtenberg directs. Patrick Aison writes the script from a story by both men. The film runs 107 minutes. It is rated PG-13, the first PG-13 in the mainline Predator series.
Dek, the runt who refuses to die
Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi plays Dek, a young Yautja. Yautja is the name for the Predator species in the wider franchise lore. Dek is small for his clan. His father Njohrr, the clan leader, calls him weak. Njohrr orders Dek's brother Kwei to kill him.
Kwei refuses. He helps Dek escape to Genna, a death planet. Njohrr kills Kwei for that defiance. Dek watches it happen. That loss drives him. He must hunt the Kalisk, an apex beast on Genna, to prove his worth. He must do it with almost no gear, after a crash landing strips him of his tools.
That setup is clean. It is a survival story, a revenge story, and a coming of age story in one. Dek is not a cool killer from the start. He is a runt who learns, fails, and keeps going. You root for him because the film shows his work as well as his weapons.
Thia, Tessa, and a split android
Elle Fanning plays two roles. She plays Thia, a damaged Weyland-Yutani android. She also plays Tessa, Thia's sister unit. Thia's team was wiped out by the Kalisk. She offers to help Dek track it. Tessa, repaired by Weyland-Yutani, hunts them both.
Thia and Dek form an odd pair. He is flesh, pride, and instinct. She is logic, damage, and care. She names a small creature Bud, after Dek saves and feeds it. Bud later turns out to be the child of the Kalisk. That twist reframes the hunt. Dek chases a beast and finds he is tied to it through Bud.
Weyland-Yutani is the company from the Alien films. Its presence links Predator to Alien in a direct way. The company wants the Kalisk for its healing power. It sees a miracle drug in a beast. Dek sees a hunt. Thia sees a friend in danger. Those three views clash through the whole film.
A hunt that becomes a clan
Dek fights the Kalisk alone at first. He cuts off its head and tail. The beast regrows them. It spares him after smelling Bud's scent on him. That mercy matters. It tells you the Kalisk is not a mindless monster. It is a parent.
Tessa captures Dek and the Kalisk with cryo explosives. She tests Dek. She shuts Thia down when Thia tries to stop her. Dek escapes, builds weapons from Genna's plants and terrain, and frees Thia. He then faces Tessa in a mech suit. The Kalisk, freed by Thia, joins the fight. It swallows Tessa. Tessa kills it from inside. Dek stabs Tessa. Bud finishes her.
Dek then returns to Yautja Prime, his homeworld. He brings Tessa's skull as a trophy. He demands his cloaking device. Njohrr orders his guards to kill him. Dek beats them, duels his father, and wins. He rejects a place back in the clan on his father's terms. Bud, now grown, kills Njohrr. Dek declares Bud and Thia as his clan. Then a large Yautja ship appears. Dek says it is his mother's.
That ending is bold. It closes Dek's arc and opens a new one in the same breath. A mother, a new clan, and a ship on the horizon give a sequel a clear start. Trachtenberg has said the ending sets up a sequel, even though no sequel has been approved yet.
How it did, and why it mattered
The film cost $105 million to make. It earned $184.6 million worldwide. That total includes $91.1 million in the United States and Canada. It opened with $40 million in its first weekend in the United States. That was a franchise record, beating Alien vs. Predator from 2004.
Critics gave it generally positive reviews. Many praised the flip to a Predator hero, Fanning's dual work, and the creature design. The film also did well at home. It reached digital on January 6, 2026. It topped Fandango at Home sales charts for weeks. It reached disc on February 17, 2026, and topped physical sales charts too.
On Hulu, it drew 9 million views in its first five days of streaming. That made it the platform's most-watched film premiere since Prey in 2022. Nielsen tracked 587 million minutes viewed in one February 2026 week. Those numbers show the film found its crowd at home, even after a solid cinema run.
Trachtenberg's run, and what comes next
Trachtenberg directed Prey in 2022. That film revived Predator with a Comanche hero in the 1700s. Badlands is his second swing, and it is bolder. He also made Predator: Killer of Killers, an animated film in 2025. Together, those three films rebuilt Predator as a series with range beyond a single joke.
If you watch it, watch for Dek's face work first. The suit and motion capture give him real emotion. Watch for Fanning second. She makes Thia and Tessa feel like two people, not one trick. Watch for Bud third. A small creature steals scenes, then grows into the film's moral center.
Badlands works because it trusts its flip. It lets a Predator be scared, kind, and stubborn. It lets an android be the heart. It lets a hunt become a family. That is why fans still talk about it a year later.
Unconfirmed or reported, not stated as confirmed fact: any Badlands sequel, its story, and its cast are not approved or announced, and Trachtenberg's comments describe a setup, not a confirmed next film.
Sources and reporting
- Wikipedia — 2026 · Verifies the November 3, 2025 premiere, November 7, 2025 US date, 107 minute runtime, $105 million budget, and $184.6 million gross.
- Screen Rant — November 8, 2025 · Verifies the twist ending, Dek's new clan, and Trachtenberg's sequel setup comments.
- Collider — February 6, 2026 · Verifies the November 7, 2025 date, the lead cast, and the Paramount first-look deal.
