byJordan King|Published on28th September 2026 at 7.07pm
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Dan Trachtenberg
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A quick glance at the recent films of 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg reveal something of a pattern. 2022’s Prey gave us a Predator movie with a Comanche twist. 2025’s Predator: Killer Of Killers gave us a Predator movie with an animated battle royale twist. And late last year, Predator: Badlands gave us a Predator movie with a buddy-comedy twist. Yeah, we know: Dan Trachtenberg really likes making movies with a twist! And so it follows that Deadline is reporting Trachtenberg’s next Disney team-up will be on an original, Sleeping Beauty inspired film, with the twist this time being that this seemingly is not a Predator movie in any way, shape, or form. Who’d have thunk?!
According to Deadline‘s sources, Trachtenberg has come aboard with an original take on Walt Disney Animation Studios‘ 1959 animated classic, itself adapted from Charles Perrault’s macabre 1697 fairytale. Per Deadline, this Sleeping Beauty is set to take the story in “an entirely new direction with Trachtenberg’s distinct sensibility.” What exactly that entails in the context of Trachtenberg’s distinct sensibility to date being predominantly dystopian/sci-fi fare — from the aforementioned 10 Cloverfield Lane and Predator joints to episodes of Black Mirror and The Boys — very much remains to be seen, as do any sort of plot details on this secretive project. We do however know that it’s believed this film will have no connection to live-action villain origin movie Maleficent or indeed its sequel, Mistress Of Evil.
Trachtenberg and Raya McClendon came up with the story for this one, while Alex Anfanger and Dan Schimpf — best known for self-described ‘slapstick drama’ Big Time In Hollywood, FL — are penning the script, possibly giving some sense of the tonal ballpark for this latest take on the perennial classic. For now, that’s about all we know so far, but stay tuned for more updates on this one as it moves along in development: if this is somehow a stealth Predator spin-off, you’ll be the first to know!
Deadline
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