DreamWorks Animation‘s upcoming fantasy epic Forgotten Island may be an animated adventure, but it will have a live-action cameo from the Predator franchise. The film will feature a clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s character from the beloved 1987 action thriller. According to directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, the sequence serves an important narrative purpose.
Forgotten Island directors break down Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Predator cameo
In a recent interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, the directing duo explained the significance of the Predator cameo in Forgotten Island.
Crawford started by jokingly saying they added the scene “for the handshake.” Notably, the movie’s official poster bears an uncanny resemblance to the famous handshake between Schwarzenegger’s and Carl Weathers’ characters in the 1987 flick.
Mercado noted, “We also did it for Predator. We love Predator.” His filmmaking partner then noted, “It wasn’t easy to get through legal and everything. But we were always trying to make sure, like, how do we tell this story so it feels like everything in it has a purpose and means something? It was just us writing from our formative years.”
Mercado expanded upon how the cameo elevates Forgotten Island’s theme, stating, “We wanted an emotional symbol for the power of these girls’ friendships, and thought, wouldn’t that be cool if little Jo and Raissa were clasping hands with just as much machismo as Carl Weathers and Arnold Schwarzenegger because of the pact of their friendship? So we just wrote that into the script and then found out how hard it was to get through legal.”
Crawford wrapped up the discussion on the topic by saying, “I think a lot of us were probably too young to see Predator, but how formative movies like this are when you see them when you’re young. ‘That movie was not made for me, but I’m glad I saw it, and it’s totally shaped my sensibilities of the movies that I love.'”
Featuring a star-studded cast led by H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Dave Franco, and more, Forgotten Island is on track to hit theaters on September 25, 2026.
Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on ComingSoon.
