Predator (film)

Predator is a 1987 American science fiction action horror film directed by John McTiernan and written by brothers Jim and John Thomas. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Alan "Dutch" Schaefer, the leader of an elite paramilitary rescue team on a mission to save hostages in a Central American rainforest, who encounters a deadly Predator (Kevin Peter Hall), a skilled and technologically advanced extraterrestrial that stalks and hunts his team down. The film also features Elpidia Carrillo, Carl Weathers, Richard Chaves, Sonny Landham, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura and Shane Black.

Predator was written in 1984 with a working title of Hunter. Filming ran from March to June 1986 with creature effects, devised by Stan Winston and a budget of around $15 million. 20th Century Fox released the film on June 12, 1987, in the United States of America, and it grossed $98 million worldwide. Initial reviews were mixed, but the film has since been considered a classic of action and science fiction genres and one of the best films of the 1980s, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

The success of Predator inspired a media franchise of films, novels, comic books, video games, and toys. It spawned six additional films: Predator 2 (1990), Predators (2010), The Predator (2018), Prey (2022), Predator: Killer of Killers (2025) and Predator: Badlands (2025).

Crossover with Alien franchise produced Alien vs. Predator film series, Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007). Schaefer would return in the video games Alien vs. Predator (1994) and Predator: Hunting Grounds (2020), with Schwarzenegger reprising his role in the latter.