'Prey' Director Dan Trachtenberg Talks Alternate Opening Featured in Blu-Ray and DVD (Exclusive)

The film Prey premiered on Hulu in 2022 and received critical acclaim. While it can still be seen on the streaming service, Disney decided to release Prey on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD, and fans can get a physical copy now. PopCulture.com spoke to Prey director Dan Trachtenberg about some of the features included in the 4K, Blu-ray and DVD versions of Prey including an alternate opening to the film that includes Naru (Amber Midthunder) her brother Taabee (Dakota Beavers) and his friends. 

"In large part, it was really focusing the story on Naru and her brother," Trachtenberg told PopCulture. "The original opening was a bit more about her place in the band and what's going on with the other guys, and it was just not quite as focused on her and Taabe. And we added a little bit of humor to it, which is just important very early on to get a sense of, okay, I can have fun with this movie in the smallest of ways, but I think the smallest changes are sometimes the most effective ones. That stuff really fed into changing the opening."

Another feature is a deleted scene that shows The Predator chasing Naru on the top of trees. The scene is shown pre-vis, meaning the scene was developed in animation before being filmed. "It's the biggest one we cut," Trachtenberg explained. "We were actually starting to construct the set and our schedule was getting squeezed, our budget was getting squeezed. In the back of my mind, I was always really nervous about that sequence. It was a really narrow runway to land onto and not have that feel goofy and not having it feel aesthetically so different from what is otherwise a very grounded aesthetic for the movie."

Trachtenberg went on to explain the scene was used as a "bargaining chip." He said he needed "other things to happen" and suggested that they cut the treetop scene. "Everyone thought I really cared about the treetop scene," he said. "When I realized that I don't as much as these other things that are more narratively essential, I sort of let that one go and I was able to free up room to put time and money into some of our other sequences that were more important."

Along with the deleted scenes, there is a behind-the-scenes look at Prey, an FYC panel with the cast and crew and audio commentary from Trachtenberg, Midhunter, cinematographer Jeff Cutter and editor Angela M. Catanzaro. Trachtenberg is happy his movie is available physically as fans can get a closer look at the film. 

"I flipped for it being able to provide all these special features because for me growing up wanting to be a filmmaker and even just being fascinated about movies and how they're made, DVD commentaries and behind the scenes and all that kind of stuff taught me as much about filmmaking that film school eventually would," Trachtenberg explained. "I love that I'm now able to put something out there on the level of what I absorbed so much of growing up."