Schwarzenegger starred as Alan “Dutch” Schaefer in the 1987 original, and made a cameo reprisal in this year’s animated “Predator: Killer of Killers.”

Predator: Badlands producer teases potential Arnold Schwarzenegger return to franchise

Schwarzenegger starred as Alan "Dutch" Schaefer in the 1987 original, and made a cameo reprisal in this year's animated "Predator: Killer of Killers."

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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November 5, 2025 12:12 a.m. ET

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Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dutch in 'Predator' (1987). Credit:

20th Century Fox Film Corp./ Everett

Arnold Schwarzenegger (might) be back.

The star the 1987 supernatural action classic *Predator *may be headed back toward the franchise, which has since spawned six sequels and two crossover films with the *Alien *franchise. Ben Rosenblatt, a producer on the latest entry in that blood-soaked saga, *Predator: Badlands*, recently said he and the *Badlands *crew have been circling the wagons around that very prospect.

"Obviously, the holy grail of *Predator* movies would be getting Arnold back in there," he told *Deadline* at Monday's premiere on the red carpet of the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. "It's always been something in the back of our minds — that it would be really great to see him come back to this franchise that he's made iconic, and that's made him iconic."

Rosenblatt and *Badlands* director Dan Trachtenberg aren't new to the *Predator *franchise, having produced and directed both 2019's *Prey *and the animated *Predator: Killer of Killers*, which released earlier this year. Schwarzenegger lent his voice to that latter film for a cameo role, and with franchise producer John Davis aboard, the Austrian actor's live-action return isn't such a long shot.

"Arnold and Dan have met a couple of times now. He's been really interested in what we're doing, he's a real fan of what we've done so far, from what I understand," Rosenblatt continued. "We're really excited. After *Predator: Badlands* comes out, we'll see and have more conversations. Hopefully, we'll have a chance to do something with Arnold, because that would be awesome."

Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2023.

Dominik Bindl/Getty

Trachtenberg also teased the new film's crossover with the *Alien *franchise, telling Deadline, “*Badlands* itself is definitely a crossover in that we have the Weyland-Yutani corporation as a huge part of the movie. Elle Fanning plays a Weyland-Yutani synth.”

The director told EW in July that fans shouldn't expect the film to be a full *Predator*-*Alien* crossover event: "It is exciting to have this movie be just a little toe-dip link between those franchises. It's important to me — I am sure people anticipate a much bigger thing, and maybe other movies and other cinematic universes would be more aggressive — but I really didn't want to take all the action figures and smush them together. I really wanted to tell a cool story."

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Schwarzenegger secured the role as Alan "Dutch" Schaefer long after he'd proven himself a capable movie star, not merely an alluring stunt-casting opportunity from the world of professional bodybuilding.

Dutch is a typical Schwarzenegger hero — all rippling muscle and bravery — but with a humane integrity that compels him to keep his team safe. His paramilitary rescue team deploys to a Central American jungle to save a stranded government official when they encounter the superhumanoid killing machine known as the Predator.

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Though* Predator *proved a smash success at the box office and drew positive notices for Schwarzenegger, the actor and former California governor didn't return for a sequel or other franchise film until *Killer of Killers *38 years later.****

Technically, Schwarzenegger returned to the character even earlier than this year's animated sequel. In 2020, players of the *Hunting Grounds* video game were given the option to purchase a DLC allowing them to play as Dutch, with narration recorded by Schwarzenegger himself.

'Predator: Hunting Grounds' features Arnold Schwarzenegger voicing Dutch. IllFonic

"The premise of it is [Dutch] recorded these tapes since '87 after the first movie," Jared Gerritzen, a key creative collaborator behind *Hunting Grounds *told ** at the time. "Throughout these tapes, there are those arrows [pointing to] what he's doing, kind of like safeguards if he gets killed or captured. These tapes are gonna be used to essentially keep his story going."**

*Predator: Badlands* opens wide in theaters on Friday, Nov. 7.

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Source: “EW Movies”