'The Predator' Release Date, News: UFC Fighter Conor McGregor Claimed He Was Offered the Lead Role but He Turned It Down
"The Predator" has been slowly taking shape ever since Benicio del Toro dropped out of the project due to scheduling issues. Since then, "Narcos" star Boyd Holbrook has been brought on board to replace del Toro in the lead role. Olivia Munn, Thomas Jane, Trevante Rhodes, Sterling K. Brown, Keegan-Michael Key and Jacob Tremblay have also joined the cast.
That's a solid list of actors who have years of experience in the industry. However, a certain mixed martial artist who has never appeared in a film before has recently revealed that he was offered the lead role in "The Predator." In an interview with An Experience With over the weekend, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion Conor McGregor said he was actually a lead role in the film, but he decided to turn it down because the pay was too low and he didn't want to spend weeks on a film set.
"The people from Predator who are having this new Predator movie, a blockbuster ... They came in and tried to the sell the whole shit. "We want you to be the main guy and you're gonna fight [the] Predator" and I'm like "this sounds brilliant! How much? Not enough," he stated (transcribed by AvPGalaxy)
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He revealed that they negotiated back and forth, but he declined the offer when he found out that he would have to stay in Toronto for eight weeks to shoot the film. He said the Pegasus horse-racing advert that he appeared in only took three days to film, but he still got a lot of money out of it. He also disclosed that filming would have started around the time when his first child is due.
A few days after the interview, "The Predator" director Shane Black tweeted that McGregor was never offered the lead role. So, who's telling the truth here? McGregor hasn't replied yet, so who knows.
"The Predator" is scheduled to premiere on Feb. 9, 2018.
