Back in October, we reported thatBoyd Holbrookcame aboard to replace the departingBenicio del Toroin 20th Century Fox’sThe Predator. Since then, the cast has grown considerably, withOlivia Munn,Trevante Rhodes,Keegan Michael Key,Thomas JaneandSterling K. Browncoming aboard to star. Today we have word that the production actually offered the leading role in this sequel to someone who has never acted in a movie before, UFC lightweight championConor McGregor, who revealed in a recent interview that he actually turned down this coveted role.
AVP Galaxydiscovered a lengthy interview withConor McGregoron YouTube, which has since been removed. The mixed martial arts fighter, who was recently confirmed to make his acting debut in an episode ofGame of ThronesSeason 7. He was set to make his feature film debut inXXX: The Return of Xander Cage, but it was reported last month that he backed out of the film. During this new wide-ranging interview,Conor McGregorrevealed that he has turned down a lot of movie roles, includingThe Predator, because they didn’t offer him enough money.
“I’ll tell you there’s a lot of offers that I’ve turned down. I got offeredThe Predator movie. There’s a new Predator movie coming out and the guys came to me, did you see that horse thing I’ve done, the horse racing? That was like three days' solid work for a hell of a lot of money, for three days. During that three day course, the people fromPredatorwho are having this newPredatormovie, a blockbuster… They came in and tried to sell the whole s–t. ‘We want you to be the main guy and you’re gonna fight Predator’ and I’m like ‘This sounds brilliant! How much?’ Not enough. We went back and forth negotiating and the number climbed up but if I was to do it [it] would mean eight weeks in Canada, in Toronto or somewhere. It’s too long a time. You can’t do a million things at once. The Pegasus thing was one thing because it was like three days, in and out. But seven, eight weeks on a film set is heavy as fuck. Plus it would have crept in around when he’s due (McGregor’s unborn baby boy). I didn’t want to get tricky with that so I turned down that offer.”
While he didn’t reveal any details about the role he turned down, if he was offered the “main guy” role, it’s likely he was offered the role thatBoyd Holbrookcurrently has. DirectorShane Blackrevealed in June that the “hero” of this story is a new character namedQuinn McKenna, the role thatBoyd Holbrookwill likely have, although his character has not been confirmed. Production is slated to begin in the near future, with 20th Century Fox setting a June 05, 2025 release date, putting it up against Universal’sFifty Shades Freedand an untitled animated film from Warner Animation Group.
Back in November, a rumor surfaced that the story will be set in thesuburbs, with the title creature wreaking havoc in an unspecified suburban location. DirectorShane Blackhas since shot down that report, but it isn’t clear where the story is actually set. With production gearing up to start soon, hopefully we’ll learn Predatorvery soon.
