Rebooted Predators, Meet 'Psy-Ops'

By: Elisabeth Rappe

Robert Rodriguez's Predators reboot has left us all with mixed feelings, particularly after the offbeat casting choices that were announced last week. If you read that and said "Man, you know what I really want instead? A movie that's like Predators, but original!", then you might be in luck. The Hollywood Reporter tells of an action thriller called Psy-Ops that was penned by Scott Stewart and Gus Krieger, and might just introduce some new terror into the jungle.* It was just optioned by Bold Films, and will be directed by Stuart Maschwitz as his feature film debut.

Psy-Ops centers on that usual gang of suspects: a U.S. military team sent on a routine mission to the Amazon Basin. Instead of being the typical black-ops bunch, these guys are psychological operatives who specialize in exploiting the deepest and darkest fears of their enemies. But on this trip to the Basin, the tables will be turned, and blood will be spilled as they "discover something more terrifying than they could have imagined." And these guys have imagined a lot.

The script is said to be a mix of Predators, Aliens, Black Hawk Down, and the Bourne films. Bold Films is hoping to mix the good of the 1980s with the psychological grittiness of our current action crop. I'm not about to judge on just a few lines of plot (and don't think I'm tearing Rodriguez down to elevate this), but wouldn't it be nice if this generation had an original alien slasher to call their own?

*Apologies for the hideous graphic on your right. That's my attempt at portraying a scary jungle. Color it red and it looks scary, right?