Just one month ago it was reported that Benicio Del Toro was in talks to lead the cast of The Predator. One of the notes on the Del Toro talks was that he and Twentieth Century Fox had gone back and forth for a while before it was announced, and that his busy schedule was a major problem to solve in making the casting possible. Now, as it turns out, Del Toro is no longer in talks for the movie. A reason for this has not yet been given, but it’s safe to assume that the very same scheduling complications are at least partly responsible.

Despite the speed bump, Fox has decided not to delay the project, instead immediately going after someone new to star. It’s now being reported that Boyd Holbrook, star of Netflix’s Narcos and a villain in the next Wolverine movie Logan, has entered into negotiations to replace Del Toro in The Predator.

Holbrook is a rising star, but nowhere near as big as Del Toro yet of course. But Fox was always planning the movie to be an ensemble cast. So if things continue down this path, and Holbrook does in fact end up playing the lead role, the gameplan is to cast a bunch of ticket-selling names in the supporting roles.

Whether it’s the lead role or a supporting role, having Holbrook on the cast makes plenty of sense. The actor has three other gigs with Fox, including the aforementioned Logan, which will be released in March of next year. The other two are David Fincher’s Gone Girl and Morgan.

The Predator is an “inventive sequel” in the franchise that began with the 1987 original starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. There have even been whispers that Schwarzenegger might reprise his role for the new movie, though nothing has been confirmed yet. All we really know about the new movie is that it’s set in present day, so there’s no reason old Dutch couldn’t make an appearance in the story somewhere.

The movie is set to be directed by Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Nice Guys, Iron Man 3), who actually starred in the original as Hawkins. The screenplay was written by Fred Dekker, who previously wrote and directed Night of the Creeps and The Monster Squad (which Black co-wrote).

[Source: Heat Vision]