Taking charge of a beloved franchise is no mean feat, but to try to turn around the fortunes of a sinking cinematic ship is much harder. This was the task Dan Trachtenberg had to undertake when he was given the keys to the Predator franchise, looking to bring back quality and refresh the IP for a new generation. Trachtenberg started impressively with Prey in 2022, which earned a pair of Critics’ Choice Awards. He then followed with the animated Predator: Killer of Killers last year, but his biggest task came later in that same year with Predator: Badlands.
The film might’ve flopped at the box office, earning just $184.6 million against a $105 million budget, but the reaction from both critics and audiences was overwhelmingly positive, represented by an 86% critics’ score and 94% audience score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. After three movies, it was clear that the future of the franchise was at least in creatively fresh and exciting hands with Trachtenberg, the sort of freshness that was obvious to anyone who enjoyed the director’s 2016 debut, 10 Cloverfield Lane.
Although in much less high-profile circumstances, 10 Cloverfield Lane saw Trachtenberg take charge of another franchise following the success of 2008’s Cloverfield. Unlike Predator: Badlands, 10 Cloverfield Lane was a notable box office triumph, turning a small $15 million production budget into $108 million worldwide. The film follows Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who is kept in a bunker by Howard (John Goodman), a man who convinces her that the world outside has been ravaged by aliens. If you’re a fan of Trachtenberg’s work on Predator but haven’t seen his debut, then you’re in luck, as 10 Cloverfield Lane is available to stream on Paramount+ this month.
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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky
Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🏜️Paul Atreides
🖖Capt. Kirk
✊Princess Leia
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🔦Ellen Ripley
🔥Max Rockatansky
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01
How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.
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02
What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.
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03
What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.
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04
How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.
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05
You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.
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06
What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.
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07
How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?
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08
When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.
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Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…
Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
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Arrakis · Dune
Paul Atreides
You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.
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You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.
USS Enterprise · Star Trek
Captain Kirk
You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
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You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.
The Rebellion · Star Wars
Princess Leia
You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.
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You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.
The Nostromo · Alien
Ellen Ripley
You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
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You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.
The Wasteland · Mad Max
Max Rockatansky
You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.
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You don’t ask for help, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.
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Dan Trachtenberg Directed an Episode of a Smash Hit Sci-Fi Series
Trachtenberg hasn’t just unleashed his sci-fi prowess on the big screen. In 2016, he directed the Season 3 episode of Black Mirror, “Playtest,” which follows an American traveler (Wyatt Russell) who signs up to test a revolutionary game to try and earn some cash. However, when the game starts to blur the line between reality and nightmare, the walls of his mind begin to crumble. A perfectly shocking, uncanny episode of Black Mirror, “Playtest” is a gem among the series’ vast catalog.
10 Cloverfield Lane is available to stream on Paramount+ this month. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for the latest streaming stories.
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