Predator: Badlands Director is Taking on a New Disney Reboot
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Published Sep 28, 2026, 3:27 PM EDT
Sam Hill is a news writer at Polygon covering gaming and entertainment. He's a Portland, Oregon–based journalist known for covering gaming, the outdoors, national parks, tech, food, and internet culture. He has written for a range of publications including Outside Magazine, Boston Magazine, Vice, the Seattle Times and Digital Trends.
After reinventing Predator, Dan Trachtenberg is reimagining an unexpected Disney classic
Prey and Predator: Badlands director is tackling a new reboot for Disney
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Dan Trachtenberg has spent the past few years proving he can put a fresh spin on some of Hollywood’s most recognizable franchises. After making his feature debut with the tense 2016 thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane, Trachtenberg moved into the Predator universe with 2022’s Prey, followed by Predator: Badlands and the animated Predator: Killer of Killers. Now, he’s turning his attention to another iconic piece of pop culture — but this time, it’s coming from Disney.
According to Deadline, Trachtenberg is developing an original film inspired by one of Disney’s most famous stories: Sleeping Beauty.
The untitled project is still in the early stages of development, with Trachtenberg and Rayna McClendon developing the story and Alex Anfanger and Dan Schimpf writing the screenplay. Plot details are being kept under wraps, though Deadline reports that the film will take the classic tale in an entirely new direction.
And despite the obvious connection, this isn't another Maleficent. The new movie reportedly has no connection to Disney's two Maleficent films starring Angelina Jolie.
What Could Trachtenberg Do With Sleeping Beauty?
Image: DisneyIt's difficult to say exactly what Trachtenberg's version of Sleeping Beauty will look like right now. Disney has plenty of precedent for reworking its animated classics, whether that's through traditional live-action remakes or films that completely rethink familiar characters and stories.
Maleficent famously turned the villain of Sleeping Beauty into the central character, while Mufasa: The Lion King explored the backstory of another familiar Disney figure. That could leave plenty of room for Trachtenberg to find an unexpected angle, particularly with Maleficent now more than a decade old.
Of course, anyone familiar with Trachtenberg's work might be wondering just how far he'll push things. Disney isn't exactly in the business of making Predator-level bloodbaths, but that doesn't mean it can't experiment with its established worlds. The success of projects like Andor has shown that Disney can find room for more mature storytelling within its biggest franchises.
That's also part of what made Trachtenberg's Predator movies stand out. Rather than simply returning to the formula established by Arnold Schwarzenegger's original 1987 film, Prey, Badlands, and Killer of Killers expanded what a Predator story could be.
Whether he'll do something similarly radical with Sleeping Beauty remains to be seen. For now, the project is still early enough that even its basic premise is being kept secret.