Well Royce, when a director like Shane Black takes the helm, it's more of a "Shane Black movie" than a "Predator movie". Predators was a "Predator movie", because Nimrod Antal isn't a top-tier filmmaker. But this is not just another, mere Predator entry anymore.
And Xan, who says it wasn't cool to be considered for a JP film? That's baseless and without merit. When you're working with the likes of Ridley Scott and Shane Black, it doesn't matter if 20 bad entries preceded the next entry if it's by such master filmmakers. So with that thinking, Bale, Freeman, Caine and Neeson should've declined Batman Begins because of Batman & Robin and Batman Forever.