The film has an ensemble cast starring Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, and Laurence Fishburne, and follows a group of proficient killers who have been abducted and placed on a planet that acts as a game preserve for two warring tribes of extraterrestrial predators, leading them to try and survive and look for a way back to Earth.

Producer Robert Rodriguez had developed a script for a third installment as early as 1994, although it was not until 2009 that 20th Century Fox greenlit the project.

[6] The title also has a double meaning, referring both to the extraterrestrial Predator creatures and to the group of human characters who are pitted against them.

[7] Principal photography for Predators began on September 28, 2009 and finished after 53 days; filming took place in Hawaii and then in Austin, Texas.

An ex-military man called Royce awakens to find himself free falling into an unfamiliar jungle and meets several others who arrive in the same manner: Los Zetas cartel enforcer Cuchillo, Spetsnaz Alpha Group soldier Nikolai, IDF sniper Isabelle, RUF officer Mombasa, San Quentin death row inmate Stans, Yakuza member Hanzo, and physician Edwin.

In the jungle, they find a strange monument, empty cages, and deadfall traps set by a deceased Special Forces soldier.

After surviving an attack from a pack of quadrupedal alien beasts, Royce deduces they are on a moon used as a game preserve, where humans and other dangerous species are hunted.

Their hunters, three larger Predators known as "Tracker", "Berserker" and "Falconer", attack the group, killing Mombasa, while the others escape.

Isabelle recognizes the Predator as the one matching the description of a similar creature that killed a special operations team in Guatemala in 1987, but was defeated by a single survivor.

[a] The group encounters Ronald Noland, a solitary U.S. Air Cavalry soldier who has survived on the moon for ten seasons by hiding and scavenging from the Predators and their victims.

He takes the group to his hideout and explains that the Predators hunt in threes, sharpening their skills by abducting worthy prey from other worlds, and bringing them to the planet.

Edwin paralyzes Isabelle using neurotoxic poison from a plant he found earlier and reveals he is also a serial killer and he intends to stay on the planet.

Jones plays the Tracker Predator, identified by a pair of tusks attached to its helmet, which controls the quadrupedal hunting animals and is killed by Nikolai.

[21] In 1994, Rodriguez wrote an early script for a third Predator film for 20th Century Fox while he was working on Desperado at the time.

[23] In 2009, 20th Century Fox studio executive, Alex Young, called Rodriguez to consider using his treatment to revive the individual Predator franchise.

[6][26] At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con Rodriguez stated that Predators would feature an ensemble cast, and that the most important element of the film would be "great characters so that the audience feels they're going on this journey with them".

[27] Rodriguez hoped to have Arnold Schwarzenegger play a cameo role as Dutch, his character from the original Predator film, but this ultimately did not happen.

[6] The film shot more exterior footage at Canyon Lake Gorge in Comal County and Hamilton Pool Preserve.

We were in the tropical rainforests of Hawaii stomping through the mud and getting rained on all day and then we ended up finishing in Austin, Texas.

Instead, KNB EFX's Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero took over building the creature suits and Weta Digital provided visual effects.

[37]Debney recorded many custom sounds and instruments, including Tibetan long horns to create squeals and screams.

He also manipulated metal scrapes and ethnic percussion to further highlight the advanced yet brutal and primitive quality of the Predators and their world.

[42] Both releases include commentary tracks by Robert Rodriguez and Nimród Antal, motion comics, and behind-the-scenes-features.

The site's critical consensus reads: "After a string of subpar sequels, this bloody, action-packed reboot takes the Predator franchise back to its testosterone-fueled roots.

"[46] On the other hand, Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "When the story relocates to the Fishburne character's grimy, claustrophobic domicile, the movie turns static.

[48] Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly complained that the film's characters were more like "cardboard clichés lining up for the body count" than real action heroes.

Again, part of the attraction is I'm oddly drawn to material that affects me on an emotional level, and characters that are dealing with things that are challenging that I would question, that I'm not so familiar with.

The comic series, consisting of two storylines titled "Welcome to the Jungle" and "A Predatory Life", serves as a prequel to the events depicted in the film.

On the same day a one-shot sequel comic titled "Preserve the Game" was also released, depicting the further adventures of Royce and Isabelle two months after the events of the film.

[64] Separate paid downloadable content for the same game features Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer from the original 1987 Predator.