It's been a wild ride for the Predator franchise. After a rocky patch that had fans worried the series was headed for extinction, director Dan Trachtenberg stepped in to steer the ship toward a thrilling new era. With the critical success of Predator: Badlands and the animated anthology Killers of Killers in 2025, the franchise is now in a prime position to attract a younger audience. But before all that, there was a film that nearly derailed everything: 2018's The Predator.
Directed by Shane Black, The Predator was supposed to be a bold reinvention. Instead, it became one of the most divisive sci-fi reboots in recent memory. Critics and fans alike panned its shift from suspenseful horror to chaotic comedy, and it struggled at the box office, failing to double its reported $88 million budget. For years, it was considered the black sheep of the franchise.
But here's the twist: eight years later, The Predator is quietly taking over the streaming world. On the free ad-supported platform Tubi, the film has climbed into the top 10 most-watched movies in the U.S. as of May 2026. It's rubbing shoulders with classics like The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, the bonkers Face/Off starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, and the iconic slasher Hellraiser. This unexpected resurgence proves that even the most maligned movies can find a second life in the free streaming era.
This streaming success comes at a time when the Predator franchise is enjoying a renaissance. Trachtenberg has confirmed he's "in this zone of dreaming up more" Predator stories, and there's even hope that Arnold Schwarzenegger might return as Dutch. The actor recently revealed that Trachtenberg "wants me to be in the next Predator" and that "FOX studios has kind of rediscovered Arnold." If that happens, it would be a major moment for fans who have been waiting decades for a proper sequel to the 1987 original.
For now, though, the spotlight is on The Predator and its unlikely Tubi triumph. It's a reminder that streaming platforms can give old, divisive films a new audience. If you haven't seen it—or if you want to revisit it with fresh eyes—you can catch it for free on Tubi. And while you're there, you might also want to check out Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg's 'War of the Worlds', which also landed on Tubi this month.
The Predator franchise's future looks bright, but its past is proving just as compelling. Whether you love it or hate it, The Predator is now a streaming hit—and that's a plot twist no one saw coming.
