Benjamin Wallfisch on Scoring Predator: Badlands, Alien: Romulus, and Killer of Killers

While 2025 was filled with a number of highly anticipated science fiction films, one that has truly stood out is Predator: Badlands, the third installment in the Predator franchise directed by Dan Trachtenberg. Following the success of 2022’s Prey, 20th Century greenlit not just one, but two additional Predator projects from Trachtenberg: the animated anthology film Predator: Killer of Killers and the live-action movie Predator: Badlands. This latter film marked a significant shift as it centered the titular alien hunter for the first time ever, telling his story from his own perspective.

Both Prey and Killer of Killers were released via streaming on Hulu, while Badlands made the leap to the big screen. It quickly became the highest-grossing Predator movie of all time, thanks to its inventive and unique storytelling. The film follows fledgling Yautja Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) and the Weyland-Yutani android Thia (Elle Fanning) on a dangerous hunt on the most perilous planet in the galaxy.

This week, Predator: Badlands was released digitally, allowing fans to watch it from the comfort of their homes. If you’re planning to rewatch or experience it for the first time, there’s a lot to discover. One such discovery is the unique and mesmerizing music of Predator: Badlands, which was recently explored in an interview with Benjamin Wallfisch, who co-composed the score alongside Sarah Schachner, the composer of Prey.

Wallfisch is a multi-award-nominated musical mastermind with over 75 film credits, including Andy Muscietti’s IT movies, Alien: Romulus, and Blade Runner 2049 with Hans Zimmer. He first worked with Dan Trachtenberg on Predator: Killer of Killers, before joining Badlands for a collaborative score with Schachner.

In December, we shared the first half of our interview with Wallfisch, which delved into the terrifying details of scoring IT: Welcome to Derry. Now, we’re back with the second part, exploring his work on Predator: Badlands and Predator: Killer of Killers, as well as Alien: Romulus. Naturally, we also asked about the possibility of a crossover between these franchises.

WINTER IS COMING: What was your experience like working on Predator: Badlands and working with Sarah Schachner? How did the two of you approach collaborating?

BENJAMIN WALLFISCH: It was one of those projects where we had to start with a completely open book. Given the incredible work Sarah did on Prey, and the way this movie is so unique in the Predator universe, with its tone, elements of humor, intense action, and real lore, it was a massive challenge. We really get inside the Yautja customs and heritage, and there are so many layers to this movie.

I had just finished working on Predator: Killer of Killers with Dan Trachtenberg, the animated anthology piece. It was an amazing experience, especially musically, because we had to straddle four different genres within a single feature. That was a huge musical challenge, but also a storytelling challenge to make sure they linked together and climaxed in the final piece. There was a lot to consider, and it was a great way to get to know a filmmaker with a very unique and daring approach to storytelling.

Sarah is an incredible artist with a very unique sound that only she can create. The process was interesting because I wanted a flexible and open approach, seeing where it landed. We tried different methods and shared the sonic and production approaches, but brought our own sensibilities to the table. Sarah led the way brilliantly. I loved the band aspect, where we all jammed with Dan, Ben [Rosenblatt], Sarah, and myself, finding our way through this complex piece. I can only commend Sarah for her work. It was amazing.

WiC: That’s so fun that it was almost more of a band approach. I’m just envisioning you guys sitting in a studio bouncing ideas. And it fits, because Badlands, even more so than Killer of Killers or Prey, is really a fresh slate sonically because it’s a totally alien culture, totally alien planets, and it’s the first movie to put viewers into the shoes of the Predator. The music does a lot of heavy lifting for that, because it sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard before. What are some of the ways that you tried to make the score of Badlands feel as alien as its premise?

BW: The biggest thing was actually this idea that Dan had, maybe halfway through the process, of what would it sound like to have a Yautja choir? So we weren’t just in the world of synths and orchestra—we were actually part of this culture, which they invented. The language that Dimitrius speaks in the movie is so musical and inspiring, with its rhythm and percussiveness. Why not bring them into the actual score as if they were part of the culture, singing in an almost ritualistic way?

We worked a lot with Dimitrius in a separate recording session to capture him singing in Yautja, doing rhythmic chants, growls, grunts, and all kinds of vocalizations. And that’s all over the score. It was fascinating to make it feel like it wasn’t just music makers looking in—it came from inside the film outwards.

WiC: That’s so cool. I did catch the Yautja in the score, but that’s actually Dimitrius doing those lines?

BF: That’s right.

WiC: I did want to branch out from Predator for a second, because you also did the music for Alien: Romulus, right? Did that play any role in you getting the gigs for these Predator movies, and were there any musical ideas in particular that you carried over from Romulus, since Badlands is a crossover film?

BW: Yes, certainly the relationship with 20th Century, which came from the Alien movie, was a big part of me having the chance to work on Predator for sure. And it was amazing to go from Alien to the Predator world in such a short space of time. Especially to Killer of Killers, which couldn’t be more different from Romulus.

But of course, there’s such an important sense of thematic intensity that you have to capture when you’re doing an Alien film—just in terms of what’s expected in the score. And even though it’s a totally different world, and especially in Killer of Killers where it’s three completely independent timeframes, well four, including the finale…everything was different, but that central, I guess, sort of thematic intent was definitely present, and some of the harmonies too. But I think all of that’s quite subconscious because in Killer of Killers it was much more about, if I was referencing something, it was just little moments of [Alan] Silvestri here and there, just to kind of ground us in that lore.

But for Badlands it was a whole other thing because it was really important to be very collaborative, and also have a sense of, we’re trying to break completely new ground. You know, this is a big risk, because of the storytelling, but it was executed with such brilliance by the filmmakers that as composers, I think all we had to do was just run with what Dan was doing and trust the boldness of it all, and bring whatever felt right.

WiC: I would say you guys absolutely pulled it off. Badlands is a tremendous movie on so many levels, including the music. So something I didn’t realize before prepping for this interview is that you’re the only composer who has worked on movies for both the Alien and Predator franchises, not counting the AvP movies. You mentioned the milieus of Killer of Killers being very different because of the historical roots, but for Romulus and Badlands, what was the biggest difference in working on these two franchises?

BW: I mean, it’s so different on so many levels. I would say certainly the musical choices in terms of the orchestration. Alien: Romulus, we really wanted to make it a journey from the very detailed, almost kind of Ravellian orchestration that you hear in the original [Jerry] Goldsmith score and later, obviously, the intense action, rhythmic elements of the James Horner Aliens score. And there’s so much heritage there that I wanted to draw on, but do it in a completely fresh and unique way, so it really felt like from the very first moments of the score, we’re saying to the audience, "It’s okay, we’ve got you, we know what you’re coming to see and what you expect to hear, but we’re gonna bring you to somewhere completely different."

And Fede [Álvarez’s] structure that he wanted is this sort of hero’s journey idea that we start in that world, and we very slowly start to build in a more electronic sensibility and it becomes really aggressively electronic as things get worse and worse for the main characters…and then we do a full circle back into the more orchestral sound, but with a much bigger scale and much more intense attitude.

It was truly just one of those challenges where I knew I needed a lot of time. I spent probably six months really developing a lot of the main themes, most of which didn’t make it into the film, funnily enough. But it was just the process of examining and trying and seeing what actually can stand up to a movie like that.

The other huge difference was when Fede first showed me the movie, he insisted that I didn’t hear a single note of the temp score. It was an incredible experience, it’s only happened a few times. We screened it in a theater on the lot, and it was just completely without music. And I remember it was such an immaculately made movie, I walked out of there just stunned and I said to Fede, "Why do you need me, man? I think this works. Do you need score?"

And of course, that question was actually a really cool place to start from because we didn’t just spot it thinking, "Well yeah, the temp sort of works. Why does it work?" Well, you know, sometimes you fall into that trap. I try not to, but that sometimes happens, and it’s very much more about if we’re gonna score this moment, like, what is its intention, that it otherwise could work without? And then once you start asking that question, it becomes a very structural conversation where you’re using silence. And eventually those silences tend to get shorter and shorter and the score gets more and more prevalent…it’s kind of much more of an exploration. And that’s why it was really important to come to it from the point of view of having a lot of pre-written suites before I’d even seen the movie.

So contrasting that with Badlands, I mean, it is different on so many levels. I think the only thing that it has in common is the shared universe of Alien and Predator, even though of course the actual time frames of the two storylines are massively separated in time. And also the fact it was a collaborative project, there was just a really different approach to the development of the material, I think. Inevitably when you’re doing a collaborative score, it’s really important to sort of bring things to the table, but also just constantly have your ears open to what’s coming in your direction and then just playing off that so it really feels like it’s organically one journey, there’s not like, clearly two different composers doing two different things. That’s really important. And so the process was very different, of course.

And also the movies are very contrasted. We’re following what should be the antagonist as protagonist, and we’re rooting for him, and we’re truly in a world which is completely fresh even though as fans of Predator, we want certain things to happen and we love these things that hit hard. But I think it was just such an extraordinary achievement that Dan and all the other filmmakers made, just within moments, throwing us into a completely fresh approach and doing it in a way where it brings all the fans along for the ride and all the people new to Predator into this world. And so musically…it’s a kind of different impetus, I suppose.

WiC: Since you are the only person who’s scored both Alien and Predator films, if you got the call to come back for a proper Alien vs. Predator movie, would you do it? And what would you be most excited about in terms of playing in that sandbox musically?

BW: I mean, of course I’d do it if I had that chance, that would be an amazing chance. Honestly, to answer the second part of the question, I have no idea. It would completely depend on the filmmaker, on the story. I always do my best to actually do the opposite of answering your question whenever I start a score, to come to a new movie with a completely open mind, a completely blank canvas, even if it is part of a franchise.

But I think it would be fascinating to try…if we don’t refer to elements of the musical lore, really make that a conscious decision, and why? Like for example in Badlands, we don’t reference Silvestri at all, we don’t reference musically any of the previous scores. And that was very deliberate because it’s such a fresh story. Whereas in Killer of Killers we did, because of its way it relates to the overall arc of the universe, especially at the end. So I don’t know it’s quite hard to say. I wouldn’t want to sort of project into the future…but of course, yeah. I would jump at that chance.

An immense thank you to Benjamin Wallfisch for taking the time to stop by the site and discuss his work on Predator, Alien, and IT: Welcome to Derry.

Predator: Badlands is currently available to purchase or rent on digital platforms. It’s slated for a physical Blu-ray release on February 17.

Predator: Killer of Killers is available to stream on Hulu and Disney+, and Alien: Romulus is streaming on HBO Max.