After nearly seven years of lying dormant, the Predator franchise is getting ready to make a comeback and in seemingly true-to-form fashion. Director Shane Black, who starred in the original Predator, is currently working on a new entry in the franchise, simply titled The Predator, which is getting ready to start shooting for release early next year. The cast has been growing in recent weeks and now, Room star Jacob Tremblay has reportedly signed on for the movie.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that the 10-year-old actor is joining the fight against The Predator, alongside Boyd Holbrook, who is playing the main hero in the movie. The part was originally intended for Benicio Del Toro, but he had to drop out over scheduling conflicts. Jacob Tremblay broke out in the Oscar-winning drama Room and that put him on Hollywood's radar in a big way. Now he is going to make the jump from quiet, indie drama to big, bloody sci-fi movie. THR also had some details about his character, which give us our first look at the plot of The Predator, which has been largely kept under wraps until now. Here is how THR is describing his role.

"Tremblay will play the son of Holbrook's character, an ex-Marine who discovers the existence of fierce aliens but finds that no one believes they exist. The son is autistic and bullied in school but becomes a key player in the fight due to his preternatural ability to learn languages."

The Predator is meant to be a reboot of the franchise, but according to Shane Black, it isn't going to be wiping the slate clean. The events of the original Predator movies will have still happened in this universe, but the description provided by THR does make it seem as though this will be a pretty fresh start, since Boyd Holbrook "discovers" the Predators. The news of Jacob Tremblay joining the cast of the movie comes just after reports surfaced that Punisher star Thomas Jane is also joining the cast. They are coming on board with the likes of the previously mentioned Holbrook, as well as Olivia Munn, Moonlight star Trevante Rhodes and Keegan-Michael Key of Key & Peele fame. That makes for a very fascinating mixed bag of cast members so far.

The original Predator remains a true action classic and the franchise hasn't managed to top, or even match, that initial entry, despite quite a few attempts. Predator 2 has found an audience in the years since its release, but it tanked at the box office and was not what one would call a critical darling. Then came the Alien Vs. Predator movies, which, despite having a seemingly bullet-proof concept, really didn't work all that well. Especially in the case of Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem, which currently has a very poor 12 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. 2010's Predators was probably the best Predator movie since the original, but was still middle-of-the-road affair, but it was enjoyable to some degree.

We will likely be learning quite a bit more about The Predator since cameras will be rolling shortly, but the cast is certainly taking shape. We do know that the movie is going to be R-rated, "scary," it will be released in IMAX and we also know the very rough plot details that THR was able to provide with Jacob Tremblay's casting announcement, which should be more than enough to get fans of the franchise excited for this new installment. The Predator is set for release on February 9, 2018.