Predator: Badlands (2025): Cast, Plot, Streaming and Ending Explained

Predator: Badlands is about Dek, a young Yautja who is the runt of his clan, and his attempt to earn a place among the hunters by killing a creature no Yautja has beaten. His father casts him out, and Dek crashes on Genna, a planet that seems built to kill anything that lands on it. The prize he is after is the Kalisk, an apex creature described as nearly unkillable.

On the surface Dek meets Thia, a synthetic made by the Weyland-Yutani corporation. She is badly damaged and needs help, and she agrees to help him on his hunt. The two cross the hostile terrain together, which makes this a rare Predator film where the hunter is the lead and the company android is his road partner.

If you want to see where the film sits before pressing play, it is the ninth entry in both release order and chronological order. Our predator movies in order guide explains how that works with the animated and crossover films, and the Predator hub lists every title.

The full plot of Predator: Badlands covers a hunt that turns into a friendship and ends with Dek leaving his clan behind. Dek is small and underestimated, and his clan and his father see him as weak. He is sent to Genna to prove himself by killing the Kalisk, but he crashes on the surface and meets Thia, who needs help as much as he does.

The partnership grows as they cross the planet's wilds. Along the way Dek befriends Bud, a young Kalisk, and the group becomes a close and odd team. Thia's "sister" synthetic, Tessa, is also on Genna and pursues them, because Weyland-Yutani wants the Kalisk's regenerative abilities. As the journey goes on, Dek's view of the strict Yautja code slowly changes, and he comes to value friendship and compassion over brute strength.

Thia turns against Weyland-Yutani, and the company's research on Genna is destroyed. Dek defeats Tessa and returns to his home world with his companions. His father rejects the kill Dek brings back, and the two fight. Dek wins, and Bud, now larger, kills the father. Dek, Thia and Bud then set up their own unconventional clan.

Predator: Badlands held its world premiere on November 3, 2025 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, and it opened in US and UK theaters on November 7, 2025, with Australia a day earlier on November 6, 2025. It is rated PG-13 in the US, 12A in the UK and M in Australia.

In the US the film streams on Hulu, and it can also be rented or bought from Amazon Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Fandango At Home. In the UK and Australia it streams on Disney+. In the UK, Apple TV, Amazon Video and Rakuten TV offer rent or buy options, while Sky Store is buy only. In Australia, Apple TV, Amazon Video and Fetch TV are buy only. These listings were checked on November 3, 2026, and Netflix does not appear among the providers in any of the three markets. The where to watch Predator page tracks every film.

The box office numbers are straightforward. Box Office Mojo lists about $91 million domestic and about $93 million international, for roughly $185 million worldwide on a $105 million budget. It opened to about $40 million in the US and about $80 million worldwide, a franchise record for a Predator opening weekend. See Predator box office for the comparison with earlier films.

The ending of Predator: Badlands is the moment Dek chooses his companions over the Yautja code. After the fight on Yautja Prime, where Dek beats his father and Bud finishes the father off, Dek, Thia and Bud form their own clan, which is highly unusual for the Yautja. The scene after the title card then sets up a possible follow up built around his mother's arrival.

In my opinion, the father's death is the point of the whole film. The code Dek was raised on is strict, and his clan and father saw him as weak, while the Kalisk he was sent to kill is the creature that ends up killing the man enforcing that code. It could be argued that this is a neat reversal, and perhaps a slightly tidy one, because the film hands Dek his victory through a friend rather than through the hunt he set out to complete.

The film also reframes the Weyland-Yutani thread. Thia turns on the company and its research on Genna is destroyed, which happens in the same stretch of story as Dek's break with the old clan. That is a different shape from the earlier films, where the Yautja arrives as an unexplained threat and the humans have to survive it. Here the hunter is the point of view, and the fear comes from the planet, the Kalisk and the people trying to harvest it.

For what comes next, see the new Predator movie page, which tracks the sequel talk and its status.

Predator: Badlands has one short scene after the final title card but nothing after the main credits, so there is no scene at the very end of the credits to wait for. Dek's former clan readies to attack him and his friends, and a ship appears on the horizon. When asked who is aboard, Dek says the ship carries his mother.

The scene comes before the main credits begin, so anyone who leaves at the title card will miss it. It is the film's only hook for a follow up.

Predator: Badlands was filmed in New Zealand, where principal photography took place. Genna is a fictional planet, so the landscapes on screen stand in for an alien world rather than a place named in the story.

• The production budget was $105 million, which makes it the most expensive Predator film.
• It opened to about $40 million in the US, a franchise record for a Predator opening weekend.
• Elle Fanning plays two roles, the synthetics Thia and Tessa.
• It is rated PG-13, the first mainline Predator film with that rating apart from AVP: Alien vs. Predator.
• The score credit names Sarah Schachner, with one listing also crediting Benjamin Wallfisch.
• Principal photography took place in New Zealand.
• Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer voice Kwei's ship computer.