- The Predator was nicknamed "Wolf" by the filmmakers, after the character Winston Wolfe in Pulp Fiction (1994). His role in the film, like Wolfe's, is described as that of a "cleaner" - one who covers up assassinations, accidents, and other messy situations.
- The Yutani character (of the "Weyland-Yutani" Company from the "Alien" films) was originally going to appear in the first AVP movie, but was written out. The character was originally conceived to be male.
- This is the first movie in both the Predator and the AVP-based movies that actually feature scenes of the Predators' home planet.
- It was at one time hoped to include scenes of the Aliens' home world. Conceptual art was created and it was even storyboarded to be used as the closing shot of the movie, but ultimately the idea was dropped in favor of using it in a potential third film.
- Not screened for critics.
- The Predalien was nicknamed "Chet" on set and in the script. This was to avoid early spoilers about the nature of the creature (i.e. it being a hybrid between the Alien and Predator). The name "Chet" was a reference to the obnoxious brother from the movie Weird Science (1985) (who was played by Bill Paxton)
- For the first time, the Predator is never seen by the humans without it's mask.
- Sound effects from previous films in both franchises were used in this film.
- According to the DVD commentary, Robert Joy's character Col. Stevens was originally written as Garber from Predator 2 (1990), who was the highest ranking survivor from Peter Keyes team hunting the predators. When the actor who played Garber (Adam Baldwin) couldn't be scheduled, the character was changed to Col Stevens.
- It was decided at an early stage that this movie would be R-rated as "it is what the fans want from the series".
- Bill Paxton was approached to play the diner chef so he could appear in the second ‘Predator’, ‘Alien’ and ‘AvP’ film in each series. However, scheduling conflicts prevented him from making an appearance.
- This is the first time in the franchise that a Chestburster emerges from a child.
- At the cemetery sequence, the man with a gun stands in front of a tombstone with the name "HAWKINS" on it. Hawkins was one of the soldiers of Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) on the first Predator (1987) movie, played by Shane Black, today a screenwriter (Lethal Weapon franchise) and director (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)).
- Steven Pasquale's character "Dallas Howard" shares his name with Tom Skerritt's character from the original Alien (1979) movie - Dallas was the captain of the Nostromo. Moreover, he says the line "Get to the chopper!", which was also said by Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in Predator (1987).
- Several sounds are intentionally recycled from previous 'Alien' and 'Predator' movies as tribute to those films. These include (but are not limited to): actual Predator (like growls and tracking sounds from the helmet) and Alien noises (like hissing and screeching); the beeping of the motion tracker from Aliens (1986), used in this movie during the opening credits, and as the sound made on the tracking screen showing the bomber heading towards its target; and the computers around Col. Stevens make the same sounds as the Mother computer from Alien (1979). The only original sound that could not be reused was the Predator's characteristic chirruping sound, which was recreated specifically for this movie.
- At one point in the film, the radio code "R-31-David" is used. This is the same radio code used by the officer investigating the temporal displacement site of the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).
- Antti Jokinen was offered a chance to direct.
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- SPOILER: The bomb used to blow up the town at the end of the movie is shown to have a blast yield of 200 kilotons (about 10 times more powerful than the one used on Nagasaki).
- SPOILER: According to the DVD commentary, effects artists Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. mention that they originally had an effects sequence that would've shown us the Predator actually skinning the body of Deputy Ray Adams. But the idea was dropped when Fox Studios that is was deemed "too horrific".
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