Fifth Predator movie filming near Calgary

The fifth instalment of the Predator franchise is set to wrap filming in Alberta at the end of this month.

Pre-production on the film began on March 1 with filming starting a month later, according to the Director's Guild of Canada.

The production is filming under the code name Skulls, a member of the local film industry confirmed to CBC. The film, which is reportedly a prequel, is set to be released in 2022.

Director Dan Trachtenberg and cinematographer Jeff Cutter, who previously worked together on science fiction film 10 Cloverfield Lane and the pilot episode of comic book TV show The Boys, have shared various photos on social media of scouting and filming locations, including the Kananaskis River and a field near the First Nations community of Morley.

The science fiction film franchise, which began with Predator in 1987, centres on human encounters with technologically advanced alien hunters known as predators.

Producers John Davis and John Fox teased in an interview with Collider that the film will have more in common with The Revenant, another Alberta-shot production, than other films in the franchise's canon.

A casting call for Skulls, posted last year, called for aspiring Indigenous teen actors and described the film as following a young Comanche woman who challenges the status quo to become a warrior. 

Entertainment news website Discussing Film has reported Amber Midthunder, of FX's Legion, will play the film's lead.

Multiple productions are currently filming in Alberta, including HBO's adaptation of the hit video game series The Last of Us.

Alberta's TV and film industry is expected to bring $482 million and 9,000 jobs to the province this year.