A 15 May 1985 Var item stated that New Zealand director Geoff Murphy was attached to direct the film, then titled Hunter. The following year, a 16 May 1986 HR item reported that Predator was part of a six-film, $60-million slate at the newly formed Davis Entertainment, with John Davis producing and John McTiernan directing.
       According to an article in the 12 Jun 1987 Morning Call of Allentown, PA, Arnold Schwarzenegger was initially reluctant to star in Predator and suggested that his character, “Dutch,” work not as one man against an enemy, as he had in past films, but as part of a team, like The Magnificent Seven (1960, see entry) or The Wild Bunch (1969, see entry). After several rewrites, Schwarzenegger approved of the script.
       Location scouting began in early 1986, according to production notes in AMPAS library files. Jungle territory within an hour’s drive of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, was selected as the primary location. With filming set to take place during the dry season, greensmen were brought in to water location sites daily and “increase the scale of the jungle” by adding thirty-foot artificial trees, artificial rocks, and vines. Principal cast members spent one and a half months training in Los Angeles, CA, gyms, before traveling to Puerto Vallarta for a week of intensive “boot camp” that entailed running, tree climbing, rappelling, weapon handling, and weight lifting. As noted in the 27 May 1986 HR production chart, principal photography began 14 Apr 1986 in Puerto Vallarta, where locations included the El Eden restaurant. In late Apr, Schwarzenegger took leave to marry Maria Shriver in Hyannis Port, MA. The newlyweds took a three-day honeymoon and returned to the set together, as noted in a 15 Jun 1987 Philadelphia Daily News article.
       Production came to a halt after six weeks, according to the 5 Jun 1986 LAHExam, due to “kinks in the film’s extraterrestrial monster,” aka “The Predator.” In an Aug 1987 AmCin article, director of photography Donald McAlpine was quoted as saying, “That’s when [the studio] re-grouped and decided first, whether they had a movie and second, what they needed to complete it.” The hiatus lasted eight months, during which time Schwarzenegger shot The Running Man (1987, see entry). In Feb 1987, filming resumed at a new location in the historic site of Palenque, in southern Mexico, where Schwarzenegger’s standoff with the Predator was filmed. Some additional pickup shots expanded on scenes that had already been filmed, but the bulk of the Feb 1987 shoot entailed the climactic battle between Dutch and the Predator.
       Production notes list the following firearms used in the film: a seventy-five-pound Gatling gun that shot 6,000 rounds per minute, wielded by Jesse Ventura’s character, “Blain,” and remotely operated via two cables that ran up Ventura’s pant legs; an M-16A2 rifle with an M-203 grenade launcher, carried by Dutch; an M-60E3 machine gun used by “Mac”; a Heckler & Koch MP-5; .45 automatics; and Desert Eagle .357 automatics.
       The Dec 1987 issue of AmCin described the “Fresnel lens” effect used to depict the Predator’s “cloak of invisibility.” Kevin Peter Hall, who plays the monster, wore a bright red Spandex suit, meant to stand out against the greens of the jungle and blue sky. Hall’s movements were filmed, then an identical shot was taken without the actor. A third take was shot with a 30% wider lens, and the three negatives were optically combined to produce a composite revealing “a vague outline of the creature moving through the greenery.” While the Dec 1987 AmCin credited R/Greenberg Associates with creating the “camouflage effect,” the Aug 1987 AmCin noted that Richard Edlund’s Boss Film Corporation initially handled special effects in spring 1986, and Stan Winston’s company took over make-up effects in Feb 1987.
       John McTiernan broke his wrist during the shoot, when he fell from a tree and rolled down a hill. A stuntman also endured a “minor facial burn,” as noted in the 12 Jun 1987 Morning Call.
       According to a 27 Feb 1987 HR “Hollywood Report” column, the film was initially slated to open on 1,200-1,500 screens on 5 Jun 1987. However, the release was delayed one week. Despite tepid critical reaction, Predator was a commercial success, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. The 30 Dec 1987 Newsday listed it as the ninth highest-grossing film of the year, with a cumulative domestic gross of $56.9 million.
       A 5 Jul 1996 The Times (London) brief reported that Ian McPhail, a fourteen-year-old British student, claimed he was inspired by Predator when he tried to cut off the head of Margaret Dennison using a bread knife. McPhail was on the hallucinogenic drug LSD during the attempted murder and robbery of Dennison, carried out with the help of McPhail’s girl friend and her mother. McPhail later told authorities that the effects of LSD had made him feel as if he was in a scene from the film. He was found guilty and sentenced to twelve years in jail.
       A 29 Feb 1996 DV brief reported that the head of the original Predator, created by Stan Winston, was stolen from producer Joel Silver’s office.
       End credits include the statements: “Special thanks to: Restaurant El Eden De Mismaloya De Puerto Vallarta; Datotek, Inc.; Brad Naples – New England Digital; Group IV Recorders”; “This film was shot entirely in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, and Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico”; and, “This picture is dedicated to the memories of Agustin Ytuarte and Federico Ysunza.” One week before filming began, art director Ytuarte and assistant location manager Ysunza were killed in a Mexicana Airlines plane crash on a flight from Mexico City, Mexico, to Los Angeles.
       Special sound effects editor John Pospisil is credited onscreen as "John P."
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