Yesterday at the DGA in Hollywood, CA., director McG previewed some clips from his upcoming installment in the Terminator film franchise, which is entitled Terminator: Salvation. The press (that's me!) saw about four clips, totaling around 30 minutes… while the Terminators themselves are as wicked-cool as ever, it was the director, McG, who was the main attraction.
A charismatic Hollywood type, he's the first one to break the ice about his name ("What kind of cock calls himself McG?") and his dubious oeuvres ("Who is this guy who directed Charlie's Angels, and why should he be doing a Terminator movie with Christian Bale?"). Even his harshest critics had to be laughing a little at his odd combo of preening self-deprecation.
McG (it's a family nickname, actually) revealed that he really had no interest in directing yet another installment in the evil robot franchise already done so well by James Cameron in parts one and two (2003's Rise of the Machines counts about as much as Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, apparently). But the fact that he could explore an origin story and in the inner workings of Sky Net did interest him — Batman Begins came to mind, then naturally, actor Christian Bale.
"Christian told me to fuck off," McG chuckled. But the director was determined. After reworking the script with the help of Jonathan Nolan, it seemed they had Bale's requirement met: "I'm not interested in action," said McG quoting Bale, "If you could get this story to the point where the actors could play it naked onstage, then I'll do it."
McG said much to us about the emotional weight and gravitas of the story, then basically negated all of his words by showing nothing but action clips. They were still rough, but it looks as though there will be lots of T-600 and T-800 smackdowns. It is difficult to tell if there's anything there for horror fans (let's face it: there are some real scares and suspense, not to mention cyber-gore in one and two), but my mind is open.
Looks like the original Terminator, none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger's mind might be open, too: McG hinted it's a possibility he could somehow be involved in the finished product. There's even thought that Linda Hamilton's voiceovers could be used, referencing Sarah's legacy tapes.
One thing I liked were the homages (it was fun hearing young actor Anton Yelchin utter that famous line: "Come with me if you want to live"), and the overall look and feel is pretty gritty ("We used three times the silver content on the film, and baked the raw stock in the sun," said McG on how he and his crew strove for a sense of an organic patina to juxtapose the post-apocalyptic desert locations against the sterile 2001-like sets used for the laboratories and factories).
Terminator: Salvation is from Warner Bros., and will be in wide release on May 22, 2009.
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Story and Photo by Staci Layne Wilson