John McTiernan had been in the middle of his location shoot in Mexico when production had come to a halt, due to problems with the alien creature suit that had been built by Boss Film Studios. Although Boss had objected to the creature design signed off on by John McTiernan and Joel Silver - recognizing that its execution would be problematic - the company had delivered it, as contracted. As Boss had predicted, the design, which looked spectacular in maquette form, was nearly impossible to realize as a full-size suit worn by a performer. Leg extensions and a third leg joint indicated in the maquette prevented the performer from walking on his own two legs. Instead, he had to be put inside a harness and hung from wires mounted to an overhead boom arm, with puppet legs extending below him. The time-consuming setup was particularly impractical in the dense Mexican jungle. "The basic problem," said SWS Predator team member & co-founder of Legacy Effects, Shane Mahan, "was that they were on location in a jungle, with no controlled soundstages and sets, and they needed a creature that could climb and fight and walk through water and everything else you see in the film. The original suit just didn't fit the action requirements."

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