Just hunker down and try to avoid the nuclear explosions around you, as an army of crazed killer fanboy robots descends on the producers and studio of Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, with the news that the fourth instalment of the franchise is to be PG-13.
The film is directed by McG, and set to star Christian Bale as John Connor, with Sam Worthington and, it's rumoured, Josh Brolin as well. Production started yesterday, Sunday, for release next May.
The production company, Halcyon, defended the decision to knock the rating down from an R (a 15 or 18 here) to a PG-13 (usually the equivalent of a 12A) with reference to last year's Die Hard 4, which also followed three R-rated films. They also mentioned the increased scope for merchandising rights with toy companies if the film comes in at the lucrative PG-13 rating, and the fact that the looser standards for the rating nowadays means that they (believe they) can maintain the series' gritty tone.
In better news, they're also promising history's first really good Terminator game to accompany the film's release, so fingers crossed there.
This isn't confirmed so consume with a pinch of salt. Common's role in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, could be that of Miles Dyson's son Daniel. The character appeared briefly in The Sarah Connor Chronicles, when Sarah Connor went to visit Miles' wife. The news comes from Moviehole.
Terminator 4 is filming now, and one of the designers working on it has been talking about the design of the new Terminator, except he won't look that new.
Miles Teves has been working as a concept artist on Terminator 4. He spoke about what the new Terminator will look like:
"I did all kinds of work on the new sort of Terminator… uh, I can’t describe without being in breach of contract… But there is a new endo-skelleton-type super Terminator that in a way is actually cruder than any of the ones from any of the other films. This one sort of takes place before all the other films in a weird way. So everything in the film is actually supposed to be cruder technology than we see even in the first Terminator."
I like the sound of that. One of the many things that annoyed me about George Lucas' new Star Wars films, was how the technology was more advanced despite taking place before the other ones. He also confirmed the plot twist we knew about, if you don't want to know look away now.
"It’s very different. It will probably be the most different film of the [series], …the first three films are essentially these hard driving chase films where you have this unstoppable force pursuing the hero. This is dramatically different in its structure and characters. It’s sort of the John Conner story, but strangely enough John Conner was not the main character. There is another guy who is the main protagonist of the film."
So that kind of confirms what we knew already. Teves also told Fanboy Confidential, through /film, the time frame the film takes place in and how he hopes the designs are not changed too much:
"It completely takes place in the machine world in the post apocalyptic aftermath. There will be lots of hardware and cool toys to be sold. And hopefully they will not water them down and they’ll be as cool as the designs. And there was cool designs. A lot of tanks, a lot of vehicles, a lot of weird machines."
Between the child friendly rating and ever changing plots this is the best news I've heard on this film for a while. Does this make you feel any better about T4?
Christian Bale is to play rebel leader John Connor in three sequels to the Terminator franchise, its producers have revealed.
The Welsh-born star, who is soon to be seen in Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight, has already started shooting the first of those films, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.
"He's really an actor's actor, so we're very proud," said Victor Kubicek of film company Halcyon.
Charlie's Angels director McG is directing the new film, which is due to be released on 22 May 2009.
"Christian was our first choice and he's a big fan of The Terminator, so we're very lucky," Kubicek told the BBC at the Cannes Film Festival.
"But with Batman he's already done the whole franchise thing, so we weren't sure he'd respond."
Luckily, said Kubicek's business partner Derek Anderson, "he read the script and he loved it, so he's signed on for all three."
US rap star Common will also have a lead role in the film, as will Australian actor Sam Worthington, who will soon be seen in Titanic director James Cameron's science-fiction epic Avatar.
The producers would not reveal whether Arnold Schwarzenegger would reprise his role as the Terminator. Nor would they discuss character names or plot details.
"We can't talk about the story points at all," said Kubicek, adding the project was being kept strictly under wraps.
"Not everyone gets to see the script. They only see the part of the script that's relevant to the job they're doing."
But the producers promised not to disappoint fans of the time-travelling franchise, which has also spawned TV series The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
"We're both huge Terminator fans and we're just approaching it from the point of view of what we'd like to see," said Anderson.
"Any time we're feeling pressure we just take a step back and say, as fans, 'what would we like to see?'"
Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, starring Sam Worthington and Christian Bale, began principal photography on May 5, 2008, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Halcyon Company Presentation of a Moritz Borman Production of a McG Film, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins is directed by McG from a script by Michael Ferris and John Brancato. The film is being produced by Moritz Borman, Derek Anderson, Victor Kubicek and Jeffrey Silver and executive produced by Peter D. Graves, Bahman Naraghi, Mario F. Kassar, Andrew G. Vajna, Joel B. Michaels, Dan Lin and Jeanne Allgood.
Warner Bros. Pictures is handling all U.S. and Canadian distribution rights for the film, with Sony Pictures Entertainment handling distribution rights in most international territories (excluding Korea and select Mideast territories).
In the highly anticipated new installment of "The Terminator" film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
The film also stars Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, Charlotte Gainsbourg as Kate Connor, Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams, Common as Barnes, and Jadagrace as Star.
Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins marks the latest installment of the multi-billion dollar "Terminator" franchise and will be the first film in a new "Terminator" trilogy. The film is scheduled for a North American theatrical release May 22, 2009. The Halcyon Company acquired all "Terminator" franchise rights in May 2007.
Principal photography is taking place at the Albuquerque Studios and on location throughout New Mexico.
Apparently there is website for this, which you can click on here, although I'm just getting a blank page.
[I]An advance look at a marketing teaser poster for McG’s Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins was revealed at the New York Licensing Show. The tagline on the bottom reads “Becoming Self-Aware Memorial Day 2009”
MTV says that the first official teaser poster will hit theaters on July 18th, to coincide with Warner Bros’ release of The Dark Knight. Attached to the Batman sequel will be the film’s first teaser trailer. The film is only a month into production, so it’s likely that the teaser will contain little or no footage from the actual film. And hey, you were going to The Dark Knight anyways, now you have another reason to be excited. And who knows, we might even get a peak at Zack Snyder’s Watchmen too (that is, unless they decide to hold off until Comic-Con)
Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins hits theaters on May 22nd 2009.
"Oscar-winning special effects expert Stan Winston, who created the creatures in films including Aliens and Jurassic Park, has died at the age of 62.
Winston, who also made the robots in Terminator, died at home in California surrounded by family on Sunday.
The film veteran had been battling multiple myeloma, a plasma cell cancer, for seven years, a representative of the Stan Winston Studio said.
He had worked with Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Tim Burton.
During his 40-year career, he became a pioneer of merging real-world effects with computer imaging.
California governor and former Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger said: "The entertainment industry has lost a genius, and I lost one of my best friends.
"Stan's work and four Oscars speak for themselves and will live on forever.
"What will live forever in my heart is the way that Stan loved everyone and treated each of his friends like they were family."
Winston won Oscars for his work on Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park.
He also received Oscar nominations for Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, AI, Predator and Heartbeeps.
Winston had recently worked on director Jon Favreau's box office success Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Favreau said: "He was experienced and helped guide me while never losing his childlike enthusiasm.
"He was the king of integrating practical effects with CGI, never losing his relevance in an ever-changing industry."
The director added that he was proud to have worked with Winston and had been looking forward to future collaborations.
"I knew that he was struggling, but I had no idea that he would be gone so soon. Hollywood has lost a shining star."
Winston's most recent film projects included Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, GI Joe, Shutter Island and the futuristic Avatar, for which he reunited with Aliens director James Cameron.
Cameron paid tribute, saying: "He ran at full throttle, in both work and play, and was a man of kindness, wisdom and great humour.
"He was a kid that never grew up, whose dreams were writ large on the screens of the world. I am proud to have been his friend, and I will miss him very deeply."
Winston grew up in Virginia, where he enjoyed classic horror films, drawing and puppetry.
He graduated from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, in 1968 and tried his hand as an actor before gravitating towards working behind the scenes.
He completed a three-year make-up apprenticeship at Walt Disney Studios in 1972.
Winston is survived by his wife Karen, a son, daughter, brother and four grandchildren."
- BBC News
R.I.P. Stan Winston
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Confirmed! A teaser description for Terminator Salvation!
Source: www.aintitcool.com
"We've been hearing indications for a while that (not surprisingly) some form of teaser for McG's Terminator Salvation will be attached to The Dark Knight."
"Ace Hunter sent us this message after taking part in a focus group which (in part, at least) involved the theatrical teaser for 'T4'. Ace's description pretty much fits what we've been hearing through the grapevine."
Note:
"In the past we've had reports from focus groups for different projects; occasionally reports accurately describe a variant of trailer that wasn't ultimately used. Which is a convoluted, insufficiently caffeinated way of saying: the person writing to us in those instances actually did see material, but The Powers That Be ended up going with different promos when all was said and done."
"So, the presentation below could change a bit between now and when The Dark Knight drops into theaters on July 18th. For the moment, however, here's where things seem to stand."
Update
"We've had confirmation that the material described below is, indeed, the trailer being shown to focus groups etc. Seems to be exactly as described, although one reader said he felt 'Bale looked a lot older than he did as Bruce, and quite battle scarred'. So there you have it."
It opens with footage of people out in every day life. Christian Bale voiceovers something like: "I always knew it happen"...
Than a pause...
"They told me I could stop it."
The same people begin looking to the sky....
"That I could save us".
Looks of horror come across their faces as he says,
"They were wrong".
Music rises as we cut to black for a second. The Terminator theme starts, with the duh duh, duh, duh, duh.
NEXT SUMMER appears on the screen...
We get a quick shot looking out over a sunny desert, and then a shot of Bale, in badass commando uniform and very recognizably the same guy who plays Batman, being lowered into a huge bunker of weapons.
THE FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE
rolls across, and we get mixed clips from inside one of the survivor bunkers as seen in Terminator 1 - but they look more concentration campish; very crowded, shots of Bale walking with a large crowd. And then the word...
BEGINS.
The music quickly rises as we get shot of a huge truck racing down a high way, a shot or two of a helicopter flying mixed with more close ups of the actors when Bale whispers, "They're coming".
It all goes quiet.
Massive drums blare the beginning of the theme (again) but this time much louder, more pumped up, as we get a metallic silver T that morphs into a 4.
We then get the big money shot of the trailer. Its Bale on a motorcycle with some girl on the back. They speed through a door of what looks like a warehouse toward us. As soon as they pass the screen, a huge terminator on wheels, a lot like the one they battle in the first one, smashes through the wall, chasing them. It looks awesome.
The highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
The film also stars Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, Charlotte Gainsbourg as Kate Connor, Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams, Common as Barnes, and Jadagrace as Star.
“Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins” marks the latest installment of the multi-billion dollar Terminator franchise and will be the first film in a new Terminator trilogy. The film is scheduled for a North American theatrical release May 22, 2009.
Los Angeles Film FestivalWe recently got a chance to chat with Common, whose new movie, Wanted, was headlining the LA Film Festival, which is going on this week.
Turns out the hip-hop artist turned actor has even bigger projects up his sleeve, as part of Terminator 4, a.k.a. Terminator Salvation. "I'm playing a character, Barnes, and I'm part of the resistance, which is fighting with John CommonConnor, fighting against the machines to help try to save humanity," he told us.
Common, who was lovely and all smiles, is nothing less than delighted about being part of the movie. "Oh man, it's so exciting," he said. "When I tell people I'm part of Terminator 4, it's like, 'What?!' " And yes, he is a fan of the series. "The first two, I really was overwhelmed by how good they were. I even looked at Arnold Schwarzenegger, like, 'Yeah, I see why people really love Arnold Schwarzenegger,' because he was incredible. He did a great job in that stuff," he gushed. "I really am just honored to be a part of the Terminator franchise and to be working with such talented people."
Common can currently be seen in Wanted, which opens nationwide this weekend.
Helena Bonham Carter is in talks to star in Terminator Salvation, directed by McG for a May 22, 2009 release. The trade says Bonham Carter's role is small but pivotal.
She joins a cast that includes Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Bryce Dallas Howard, Moon Bloodgood, Common and Jadagrace.
Principal photography on the movie, which looks at the origins of the battle between humans and Skynet, started last month in New Mexico, with the idea that most exteriors would be shot before a potential actors strike.
In Terminator Salvation, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
Shield creator Shawn Ryan, recently spoke with IGN and told them that he recently penned a "production rewrite" for Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins and that he worked extensively with director McG on the project. Here's what he told IGN.
IGN: How did you get involved on Terminator and how long did you work on it?
Shawn Ryan: One of the producers, Dan Lin, was familiar with my work and I sort of put the word out that I was looking for a movie rewrite job while I had the time to do one. I came in three weeks before filming began and took a pretty big whack at the script. I spent a lot of time with McG and with Dan and with [producers] Moritz Borman and Jeanne Allgood, who are also producers on the film, just sort of talking about where they were on the script they had and what needed to be changed and what we'd change it to. I'd spend the days in Albuquerque talking about what needed to be changed and I'd go to my hotel room and sort of write all night, until like 4 in the morning. So we did a lot of work and then I had to come back because of TV commitments and I think they've subsequently brought in one or two other writers to continue the work. So I don't know what will be there. But I got to meet with the actors – meet with Christian Bale and Sam Worthington and Anton Yelchin and Moon Bloodgood, who are all in the film and talk to them about the characters and do some work on that. It's a franchise that I've always been really enamored with and I always loved those stories and it just felt like a great opportunity.
IGN: Playing in a world like that which is very established and we all love, was it kind of strange at first because it's using characters someone else created?
Ryan: Well, I'm used to that in TV. The difference was that these weren't characters that I was there for the origin of. So you have to be true… I know the first two movies pretty encyclopediacally. I'd seen the third one when it came out, but I watched it again to remind myself of the history. But I think McG really wants to do to that franchise what Christopher Nolan to the Batman franchise. This isn't just the fourth movie in a sequence of films, but I think he wants to re-imagine it and ground it and give it some reality, even though it takes place in the future. It's not a present day Terminator after him, trying to kill him. It's a different beast all together. Well, I don't want to say too much about it. First of all, who knows what's changing in my absence! [Laughs] But they want to maintain some secrecy about it. But I know he has very high aspirations artistically for what he wants to do for it. In many ways he wanted to view it as, "Okay, we have to be true to the past, but we can make our own movie here," which was freeing as a writer.
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May 6th, 2008 09:31 AM
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