Predator Badlands Director to Helm Sleeping Beauty Reboot

Dan Trachtenberg spent the past few years proving he can put a fresh spin on recognizable franchises. After making his feature debut with the 2016 thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane, Trachtenberg moved into the Predator universe with 2022’s Prey. He followed that with Predator: Badlands and the animated Predator: Killer of Killers. Now, he is turning his attention to another piece of pop culture from Disney.

According to Deadline, Trachtenberg is developing an original film inspired by Sleeping Beauty.

The untitled project remains in early development. Trachtenberg and Rayna McClendon are developing the story, while Alex Anfanger and Dan Schimpf are writing the screenplay. Plot details remain under wraps, though Deadline reports that the film will take the classic tale in a new direction.

The movie has no connection to Disney’s two Maleficent films starring Angelina Jolie.

What Could Trachtenberg Do With Sleeping Beauty?

Disney has precedent for reworking animated classics through traditional live-action remakes or films that rethink familiar characters.

Maleficent turned the villain of Sleeping Beauty into the central character, and Mufasa: The Lion King explored the backstory of another familiar figure. That leaves room for Trachtenberg to find an unexpected angle, especially since Maleficent is more than a decade old.

Disney does not make Predator-level bloodbaths, but the studio experiments with established worlds. Projects like Andor demonstrate that Disney finds room for mature storytelling within major franchises.

That approach defined Trachtenberg’s Predator movies. Instead of returning to the formula of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 film, Prey, Badlands, and Killer of Killers expanded what a Predator story could be.

Whether he applies a radical approach to Sleeping Beauty remains to be seen. The project is early enough that even the basic premise is secret.

Source: Polygon