About a month ago I wrote about how the Terminator franchise rights were up for grabs now that the company who owns the rights, Halcyon Co., has filed for bankruptcy. Well, the rights to the beloved sci-fi franchise are now officially on the auction block and we already have a wild opening bid that’s making news.

The man behind the bid? Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and  Dollhouse.

According to the LA Times, The Halcyon Co. hopes to have the Terminator rights sold off by January, 2o1o, if only to start recouping some of the money they lost on the failed venture that was this summer’s Terminator Salvation (that title suddenly holds a lot of irony, doesn’t it?). There is also the possibility that Halcyon will hop on a “stalking horse,” which is basically a motivated buyer who bids early (and high enough) to have the property put on hold while the buyer then performs full due diligence on said property. To boil it even further down into layman’s terms: If some high-pockets out there thinks there is enough juice left to be squeezed out of the Terminator franchise, they’ll pay to be able to look deeper into just how much money they can make off it.

Sony and Warner Bros. are being floated as the studios circling the property right now, as is independent studio Summit Entertainment (the Twilight guys). But studios are not the only ones interested, apparently; rich guys from the private sector “…have expressed strong interest” said Kevin Shultz, senior managing director of FTI, Halcyon’s hired financial advisors.  Ironically enough, one of those private sector guys making an early bid is none other than Joss Whedon, who in the last 24 hours posted a whopping $10,000 bid for the Terminator rights on fan site whedonesque.com, sparking off rumors galore.

Since that initial “bombshell,” Whedon has explained his out-of-left-field bid to Entertainment Weekly:

“Here’s the thing: It’s not a slam on The Terminator. I love The Terminator. That part’s totally true. I was thinking to myself, ‘Not since they auctioned off frames from The Little Mermaid have I wished I had more money this much. So you know what, never hurts to ask.’ I loved the movies, even the later movies. I loved the mythology. I loved the TV show [The Sarah Connor Chronicles]–like, really loved. Not for pretend. And not just because of [star] Summer [Glau].”

The most surprising thing I read in that quote is that Joss Whedon is actually a fanboy for The Sarah Connor Chronicles – that show certainly didn’t do any favors for the first season of Whedon’s Dollhouse last year!

Needless to say, I’m sure The Halcyon Co. will get a better offer than Whedon’s for the Terminator rights – but wouldn’t be cool if by some chance Joss Whedon became the master of the Terminator universe (or would that be more of a disaster)?  Anyhoo, Halcyon bought the rights for $25 million and now figures their worth – after all the great, great, work they did on Terminator Salvation – to be up around the $60 million range. Whoever nabs said rights gets to call the shots on how any other sequel films or TV spin-offs will go down (hopefully far removed from McG’s terrible plans for T5), and will inherit whatever money can still be squeezed out of Salvation when it hits DVD in December.

Do you have a strategic business plan for who should hold the rights to the Terminator franchise? Should it be a studio or an independent investor who just has that much love for the series?

Sources: LA Times, Entertainment Weekly

• Terminator Franchise Rights Up For Grabs
• The Battle Over The Rights To Terminator 5
• Do Pending Lawsuits Mean No Terminator 5?
• Joss Whedon Gets Control Over His Dollhouse
• Brandon Routh Joins Chuck & Summer Glau Enters The Dollhouse
• Joss Whedon To Direct An Episode of Glee

Somebody over at The Halcyon Co. should’ve been listening when Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor told us that the future isn’t certain in Terminator 2. Just a few months ago, a sequel to Terminator Salvation was all but guaranteed; then came the lawsuits between Halcyon (owner of the Terminator franchise rights) and Pacificor, the hedge-fund that sponsored Halcyon’s purchase of the Terminator rights.

Now, it seems that The Halcyon Co. (headed by Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek) is so far in the red – between Terminator Salvation’s underwhelming returns at the box office, the venture capital needed to buy the franchise rights and alleged manipulations by Pacificor to ensure Halcyon’s financial ruin – that the company is reportedly looking to sell off the Terminator rights to make a buck.

If you want to read details of The Halcyon Co.’s financial quagmire, go here. If you want to know about the convoluted history of the Terminator franchise rights, go here.

When word of this Halcyon/Pacificor legal battle emerged back in August, we here at Screen Rant wondered what kind of effect the legal fallout would have on Terminator 5, which Salvation director McG was already prepping. Now that this new report has surfaced, it seems that Sarah Connor’s prophetic words of “No Fate” are coming to pass; until the rights to the Terminator franchise are secure in SOMEBODY’s hands, whatever time-traveling, future-warring plans there may have been should be considered wiped clean off the slate.

I for one am indifferent about all this: after I heard McG’s plans for Terminator 5 (hint: abandoning the future war storyline and returning to the present), I was like “I could live happily without that film EVER being made.” So, if the franchise rights DO get pushed out into the open market, I just pray that whoever snags them has a better plan in mind than Halcyon and McG did. I was NOT a fan of Terminator Salvation and was fearful that the franchise was well on the way to having whatever past greatness it had strangled out of it.

What do you think of these latest developments in the war over the Terminator franchise? Do you see an opportunity here, or should this franchise put set back on the shelf until (inevitably, if current trends are any indication) it’s time for a remake/reboot of Cameron’s vision?

Source: Film Junk

• Do Pending Lawsuits Mean No Terminator 5?
• Terminator Rights Hit Auction Block; Whedon Bids 10K
• The Battle Over The Rights To Terminator 5
• Terminator 5 Will Involve Time Travel. Again.
• ‘Terminator Salvation’ Producers In $160 Million Lawsuit
• Terminator 5 May Go To London… If It Goes Anywhere

So we just finished telling you why the Summer of 2009 was the season of bad movies. Now, as if to validate our point (sarcasm alert) Variety has just announced that the Summer of ‘09 has set a new record as the highest grossing summer of all time at the U.S. domestic box office.

So there you have it, folks, it’s official: Hollywood has no reason to ever hire good writers, produce good scripts, or offer us anything better at the multiplex than what Michael Bay can half-envision.

Awesome.

The numbers of course tell a deeper tale than that, so if you’d like to find out just how the heck this summer managed to break the box office bank, here’s the breakdown:

Top earners for the season were Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($399.4 million), Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince ($294.3 million), and Disney/Pixar’s Up ($289.6 million). We all know why the franchise players made bank (it certainly wasn’t because the newest installments were great films in and of themselves) and Pixar is a proven brand that happened to offer a truly exceptional film. Other crap sequels that helped fill the piggy bank: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($193.3 million), Angels and Demons ($133.4 million) and Night at the Museum 2 ($176.5 million)

There were also some unexpected boosts to the box office this year, thanks to Warner Bros.’ breakout hit The Hangover ($270.2 million) and the Sandra Bullock / Ryan Reynolds rom-com, The Proposal ($160.2 million).

Rounding out the Summer ‘09 box office cash pile were reboots/relaunches of popular franchises. On that front you had Star Trek ($256.7 million), Wolverine ($179 million), Terminator Salvation ($125.3 million) and G.I. Joe ($133.4 million and counting).

This really must be just a cruel joke being played by God, IMHO. You have he Writers Guild of America strike back in 2007, during which the scripts for a lot of these films were forced to go into production half-cooked (or less), and what’s the moral of the story? What’s the grand example that the talented writers in Hollywood can hold up to the studios? “Hey, you better treat us right, otherwise we’ll stop working and you’ll end up making more money than you ever have before!”

Pretty short soapbox to be standing on.

It’s also arguable evidence of the (snooty) stereotype that the average American moviegoer has the cerebral capacity of a third grader. Just looking at the numbers I have to wonder just how so many people could be so entertained by so much crap. It once again raises a question one of our readers put to us back in June, after the release of Transformers 2: Is there really a difference between movies like The Dark Knight and TF2 when both films start pulling in crazy bank? How much does quality count?

It was an intriguing topic before, but after hearing that the Summer of 2009 will go down as a the “best” summer at the movies ever (from a profit standpoint), it’s now a raging debate. Expect Screen Rant’s post about it soon.

Source: Variety

• Summer 2009: The Season Of Bad Movies [Updated]
• Tom Cruise Career Update: Getting His Scripts ‘Tom-Ready’
• Wolverine Shreds Box Office: $87 Million Opening Weekend
• No Salvation For Terminator at the Box Office
• SR Picks [Video]: John Connor vs. Terminators & Transformers
• Terminator Rights Hit Auction Block; Whedon Bids 10K

Well, the summer movie season is officially over, and while box office earnings are way up, it seems like the quality of the films have actually gone way down.  But for every few badly-written movies (like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Transformers 2, and G.I. Joe–though some will say it’s not that bad), there was a diamond in the rough like District 9.  So why were so many movies so bad in the summer of ‘09, even if they did make a lot of money?  Hint: The Writers Strike!

Before the summer began, I wrote an article about how the 2007 Writers Strike might affect the summer 2009 movies.  I speculated that back in 2007, studios were nervous about how long the writers strike could last, leaving them with a possible lack of films for the fall/winter 2008 and all-important summer 2009 season (early May to late August 2009). To make sure they had big films lined up for Summer ‘09, the studios pushed to have their big-budget scripts quick-finished before the Writers Guild of America’s (WGA) contracts were up in November 2007 and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) in summer of 2008.

So what happened? Movies like Wolverine, Transformers 2, GI Joe, Angels and Demons, Terminator Salvation, and others got thrashed by critics (and our own, brave reviewers here at Screen Rant), for their lackluster scripts that showed every sign of being half-cooked. Now, some of you might thing bad scripts and summer blockbusters go hand-in-hand – but let’s be honest, when was the last time there were so many stinkers that came out in one summer?  Sure, many of these films made a lot of money, but how much of that profit hinges on moviegoers looking for affordable entertainment and “stay-cations” in this bad economy?

It’s very well known that most of the summer ‘09 films were rushed into production. Angels and Demons was delayed a year due to the Strike, but that didn’t seem to help make the final product that much better; Michael Bay has said in interviews that he worked out the overall story of Transformers 2, all the way down to the action AND comedic bits.  However, when the WGA strike ended, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman were joined by fellow writer Ehren Krueger to try and get the script for TF2 hammered out in a matter of three or four months to meet the production start deadline.  At that rushed pace, the script was bound to suffer.

Several Big-budget franchise installments failed to live up to the hype.

Here’s a quick recap of some of the more disappointing movies this summer:

• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
• Terminator: Salvation
• Angels and Demons
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• Year One
• Public Enemies (this one is open to debate–it seems kind of split on how people and critics liked it–Vic liked it)

(Continue to pg. 2 to see which movies of Summer ‘09 were actually good!)

• Did The Writers Strike Hurt This Summer’s Movies?
• GROAN… Summer 2009 Sets Box Office Record
• Wolverine Shreds Box Office: $87 Million Opening Weekend
• New Video For Wolverine Showcases Popular Mutant Characters
• The Latest Batch O’ Movie Posters
• Terminator Salvation Desperate To Fill Seats

For those of you who were upset that Terminator Salvation wasn’t R-Rated, you can now rest easy: a Rated-R version of the film is said to be coming to DVD and Blu-ray soon.

There was quite a bit of back and forth before Terminator Salvation came out about it being PG-13 instead of R-Rated, with some people being extremely upset that it wasn’t a hardcore action movie like the first two were, while others didn’t think the PG-13 rating was an issue. The Director’s Cut of the Terminator Salvation has been labelled by the MPAA as “R” for “some violence,” and, “brief nudity,” with the latter probably being the inclusion of a reported scene of star Moon Bloodgood removing her top that wasn’t included in the theatrical version.

Normally I would be really psyched about a movie like Terminator Salvation getting a more explicit rating that allows some of the stronger violence to be shown on-screen, but in this case, does the label the MPAA tagged T4 with really sound like much of an R-Rated movie? “Some violence and brief nudity,” doesn’t sound all that extreme, and certainly doesn’t sound like much of a step up from the theatrical version.

In fact, take a look at the MPAA’s website, which shows the ratings of other Terminator movies, as well as the theatrical version of Salvation.

Interesting…

I’m someone who had a fair bit of fun with Terminator Salvation, even if it was a disappointment compared to the greatness the series achieved under James Cameron in the past, as well as how awesome the trailer made it look. I didn’t have a problem with the lack of “hardcore” violence – although I imagine that was a nerve that was not only touched but crushed for some viewers. By the sounds of it, I don’t think this DVD/Blu-ray version will be drastically different to the one we saw in theaters, and yet the “Director’s Cut” label will most likely snag the money of those who’re hoping for something a bit more full-on than the theatrical version.

Only time will tell…

What do you think about the Director’s Cut of the fourth Terminator getting an R-Rating? Does it sound to you like it will be that much different from the theatrical version?

The Director’s Cut of Terminator Salvation is apparently going to be released on DVD and Blu-ray sometime soon. Screen Rant will keep you posted on when.

Source: UGO via /Film

• New Terminator Salvation Trailer, Posters & Photos
• Explosive New Terminator Salvation TV Spots
• ‘Year One’ Goes From R To PG-13
• Linda Hamilton Confirmed YET AGAIN For ‘Terminator Salvation’
• Terminator 5 Will Involve Time Travel. Again.
• Terminator Franchise Rights Up For Grabs

Hollywood’s newest favorite Aussie actor Sam Worthington has a lot on his plate coming up. In addition to being the lead in James Cameron’s long-awaited special-effects extravaganza, Avatar, Worthington will be playing Perseus in the upcoming remake of Clash of the Titans and is rumored for the part of Captain Nemo in Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Wow, I’m just writing about these films and I’m tired.

Anyway, Steve Weintraub at Collider had the chance to sit down with Worthington on the set of Clash of the Titans to talk about some of his upcoming projects and his thoughts on his most recent big-budget film, Terminator: Salvation. Check out some portions of the interview below. For the full interview, make sure to head over to Collider.

On the critical reaction to Terminator: Salvation:

“You know, there was a lot of kind of, you know, I can nitpick with the best of them, man, and kind of go down the list of things I saw on IMDB where they found holes in it and go, you are f***ing right. If there was a big ten ton robot coming outside that gas station, surely we would f–king hear it! And I missed that. So I’m going to be a bit better when I’m looking through my f***ing scripts. So it raises my game a bit, because now I feel like an idiot for not saying it to McG, you know?”

On reactions to Avatar’s trailer:

“It’s got a hell of a lot of hype. I read all what was said yesterday about the, about the trailer. I can see their point. But as I said, it wasn’t meant to be built for an Apple Mac. It’s built for IMAX. It’s built for 3D. That’s what he’s designed it for. He’s designed it to bring people back to the cinema.”

On wanting to get involved with comic book movies:

“I’ve got a mate that like I was sending to Comic-con to go and find stuff. Man, he’s a dude, he plays Guitar Hero and reads comic books and I thought f–k it, I’ll put you on the pay roll. They’re the movies getting made so I flew him to Comic-Con and he had a ball, and he came back and went I met this person and this person and this person and this person… He came back with lots of different material. He talked to a lot of different kind of comic book companies.”

In a separate interview with the website Moviehole, Sam Worthington also talked about the possibility of reuniting with Terminator Salvation director McG for Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. While McG has gone on record as wanting Will Smith for the role of Captain Nemo, Worthington’s name has been loosely tied to the role since McG stated his preference for the actor in an interview with IGN UK a few weeks back. In the interview, Worthington states:

“We haven’t discussed it seriously. I wrote him an email and he wrote back saying ‘I don’t think you have these qualities, blah, blah..’ and I wrote back saying ‘it’s your job as a director to bring it out of me.”

Hmmm… Doesn’t sound too compelling. Nevertheless, the more I learn about Sam Worthington, the more I like him. In interviews he comes off as very down-to-earth and accessible, which is a great characteristic for an actor. I look forward to seeing his work in Avatar, Clash of the Titans, and (possibly) in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. What do you think? Is everyone fully on board the Worthington bandwagon, or is it just me?

Source: Collider and Moviehole

• Sam Worthington Talks Clash of the Titans, Avatar
• Clash Of The Titans Set Photos With Sam Worthington
• Clash of the Titans Set Footage
• McG Updates ‘20,000 Leagues’, Prepping Terminator 5
• Sam Worthington as Perseus in Clash Of The Titans
• Disney Halts ‘20,000 Leagues,’ McG Off The Project

Just a couple weeks after we reported that McG was prepping Terminator 5, it appears that the film may be dead in the water. According to a number of sources, a proposed sequel to this year’s underwhelming Terminator: Salvation may be out of the question due to a legal dispute between The Halcyon Co. (which own the rights to the Terminator franchise) and Pacificor (a Santa Barbara, California-based hedge fund that helped Halcyon buy the franchise).

As explained in the L.A. Times, The Halcyon Co., which is headed by Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek, has filed two separate $30M lawsuits against the company (one against Pacificor and one against a former Pacificor employee).

What’s all the litigation about?

I’m glad you asked, because it’s a little complicated. The lawsuits stem back to April 2007, when Pacificor first issued Halycon a $30M loan to acquire the rights to Terminator. In December of 2007, Pacificor provided an additional $5M bridge loan to Halcyon. This month, Pacificor filed a lien against Dominion Group (a subsidiary of Halcyon, which is also operated by Anderson and Kubicek) for the $5M loan. According to Anderson and Kubicek, however, they don’t owe a penny. According to them, Pacificor filed the lien in a “desperate and deliberate attempt to seize ownership and control of the Halcyon entities and of the ['Terminator'] franchise.”

Juicy stuff, right? The second lawsuit against former Pacificor Vice President Kurt Benjamin is even better. According to that lawsuit, Benjamin committed fraud by knowingly hiding the fact that he was working for Pacificor at the time he was negotiating with Anderson and Kubicek. By not disclosing his relationship with Pacificor, Benjamin was able to negotiate better terms for his company. Anderson and Kubicek also claim in their lawsuit that Benjamin encouraged them to invest in the production of a Terminator Salvation video game which would help ensure that the company “would not be able to meet its obligations and would therefore fall under the total control of Pacificor.” (Not very much faith in the video game, ay?)

The complaint also alleges, among other things, that Benjamin “blackmailed” Halcyon by forcing the company to pay kickbacks to close its various loans, that Pacificor CEO Andrew Mitchell demanded a $250,000 a year salary to serve on Halcyon’s board, and that fellow Salvation producer Moritz Borman intentionally forced the film over budget so the company would default on its loans.

What does this mean for Terminator 5?

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your opinion of Terminator), because of the lien against Dominion Group, Anderson and Kubicek have been unable to borrow money against their $7.5M producer fees for Terminator: Salvation to begin production on Terminator 5. In fact, according to Variety, T. Asset Acquisition (the Halcyon subsidiary which owned the Terminator rights) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Because the Chapter 11 filing comes only one day after Halcyon filed its two lawsuits, it seems like a pretty sure sign that the company will not retain the rights to the franchise.

Does this mean there will be no Terminator 5 ever? Of course not! It’s Hollywood, and in Hollywood there’s nothing better than a franchise. It’s impossible to speculate exactly when a Terminator sequel could come out or what it could be about until this litigation is resolved. However, assuming that Pacificor wins the rights to Terminator as collateral for Halcyon’s unpaid loans, there’s no reason to suspect that the company would not try and produce their own film. Even though Terminator: Salvation had a hard time finding an audience, the Terminator franchise still has strong value and it would be foolish for Pacificor to simply let it go to waste.

What do you think? Is there still hope for the Terminator franchise?

Source: Variety and L.A. Times

• Terminator Franchise Rights Up For Grabs
• The Battle Over The Rights To Terminator 5
• ‘Terminator Salvation’ Producers In $160 Million Lawsuit
• Terminator Rights Hit Auction Block; Whedon Bids 10K
• Terminator 5 Will Involve Time Travel. Again.
• McG Talks Terminator Salvation Ending & Trilogy Potential

Two days ago, Screen Rant reported on one of the newest TV Spots for Terminator Salvation. That commercial showed off the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s face appeared in the movie in a short scene as the T-800 killing machine.

Why is that significant?

Well, my thoughts were that the folks behind the movie were getting desperate to have people come see the movie in theaters now that it has been out for several weeks in North America and had not lived up even close to where they expected it to be in terms of box office numbers. What does that mean for its potential sequel?

The film had received mostly negative reviews from critics everywhere, the worst out of the franchise. Its opening weekend was weak, coming second to the Night at the Museum sequel and not even coming close to other May openers such as Star Trek, Wolverine and Pixar’s Up. Since then, it dropped off significantly and it continues to do so with big movies opening weekly during the busy summer season. This is especially bad since they went for the PG-13 rating on the film to open it up to the younger movie-going audiences.

With poor reception and poor numbers, the $200 million production budget no longer seems like a good investment. Worse, the franchise is no longer as strong as once thought. Is it the brand name that’s not selling as much? Or could it be that Terminator needs the Governator as the lead?

McG’s Terminator Salvation was supposed to be one of the biggest movies of the year and more than that, it was supposed to be the start of a whole new trilogy of films. Leading up to the release of this fourth installment, there was plenty of talk of ideas for the sequel to Salvation, including having Robert Patrick back for a role in it and everything looked great.

Now, not so much. Will there even be a sequel to Salvation? If there is, will the same creative team be there to make it? Will they pay Christian Bale a ton of money to do it and will McG again direct?

Continue to Page 2 for more on this and and where the sequel will take place…

• Terminator 5 Will Involve Time Travel. Again.
• McG Talks Terminator Salvation Ending & Trilogy Potential
• Terminator Franchise Rights Up For Grabs
• The Battle Over The Rights To Terminator 5
• Terminator Salvation Desperate To Fill Seats
• Will Robert Patrick Be In Terminator 5?

Terminator Salvation was one of my most anticipated films of the year. Unfortunately, it did not live up to the hype for myself and many other Terminator fans, let alone the critics who tore it apart in the plethora of negative reviews found online and in print everywhere.

While the movie is still just opening in many of the foreign markets, its financial performance in theaters is a clear disappointment for director McG and the studio. I wonder if they’re still considering forming a trilogy out of it…

The movie opened on May 21st in North America to bring in around $42.5 million, significantly less than its monthly competitors in Star Trek, Up and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. A big factor in this is the fact that it opened on the date as Night of the Museum 2 which devoured the family segment of the moviegoers that weekend and ended up being the number one film, beating out the fourth Terminator installment.

That being said, I’m sure the awful reviews of the film didn’t help it much either. On Rotten Tomatoes, Terminator Salvation is sitting at 34% and as of today, Terminator Salvation has only brought in around $120 million worldwide while its production budget was $200. It’ll still bring in more with its foreign releases but its near done in its key markets with new films opening every week taking the viewers away.

For instance, this weekend we had Up and Drag Me to Hell open to fantastic reviews and positive fan reception and next weekend we have a pair of new comedies, so I can’t see many people going to see T4 now with all the other options and Star Trek still traveling at warp speed.

Is the moral of the story that Terminator needs Arnold Schwarzenegger as the lead? Many fans thought that leading up to Salvation and it seems the Studio now thinks that too with their most recent act of desperation to bring in more fans to see the flick. The latest TV spot for the movie reveals one of the surprise treats of the movie that wasn’t really a big surprise for those following updates for the movie online. That surprise is a cameo by Arnold, digitally added to the classic T-800 unit for a short scene in the film.

I guess its no longer a spoiler anymore since it is in the TV commercials – Check it out for yourself:

Don’t be fooled by this – What you see in the trailer is pretty much all the screen time he gets in the movie.

It’s too bad this film wasn’t better. It looked polished and finished unlike Wolverine but there was so little to it and none of the interesting plots were explored. Instead, a bunch of set pieces and action sequences were just thrown together with big special effects and references here and there to try and tie it in with the prior films.

If there’s another one, I hope we get a big improvement.

Can Christian Bale truly sell a movie on his own like Arnold could? What do you think of the TV spot showing off Arnold and the idea of another Terminator movie?

Sources: Box Office Mojo, Trailer Addict

• Terminator 5 May Go To London… If It Goes Anywhere
• McG Talks Terminator Salvation Ending & Trilogy Potential
• Final Extended Trailer For Terminator Salvation
• Star Trek Already Breaking Records
• No Salvation For Terminator at the Box Office
• Arnold Talks Terminator Salvation & The Expendables

We have a winner for this great contest:

Thorsteinn Valdimarsson, Iceland

Thanks to everyone for entering!

Don’t forget to enter our Screen Rant giveaway, time is almost up! Thanks to the most excellent Art You Grew Up With we’re running a contest for a cool Terminator Salvation fine art limited edition print, created from original artwork overseen by Terminator Salvation production designer Martin Laing.

This limited edition print is limited to only 100 copies and we’ve got one to give away (which will also be signed by the artist).

One Grand Prize Winner :

• Fine Art Limited Edition Print From Terminator Salvation
  

Here’s the official description of the Terminator Salvation fine art limited edition print:

This Official fine art limited edition is created from the original artwork overseen by production Designer for Terminator Salvation; Martin Laing. The image is printed using Fine Art paper and pigment inks that ensure all the vibrancy and detail of the original is displayed for the collector. These editions offer a rare insight to the production process, and a unique collectible for any fan. This edition is supplied with a Certificate of Authenticity.

This is one of the cooler things we’ve given away on the site – the print measures 16″ X 12″ and is most definitely suitable for framing. This piece is part of The Art of Terminator Salvation Exhibition which runs from June 3rd – 30th at The Movieum of London, County Hal, in the UK. If you’re one of our British readers I encourage you to check it out.

• Terminator Salvation Contest – Winners!
• Terminator Salvation Prequel Giveaway – Winners!
• ‘9′ Movie Contest – Winners!
• SR Picks [Collectibles]: Terminator Salvation T-700 Factory Diorama
• New Posters For 2012 & Terminator Salvation
• Harry Potter Extended Edition Re-Releases on the Way?

In the Wrap Up this Week:

The box office is UP; Robert Downey Jr might still saddle up for Cowboys and Aliens; Lucy beats Nicole Kidman to the Punch; Natalie Portman, Danny McBride and James Franco salute Your Highness; Seann William Scott and Adam Brody are A Couple of Dicks and Chevy Chase dips his toes in the Hot Tub Time Machine and he may return as Fletch.

BOX OFFICE:
The summer season is now well and truly here. Pixar’s Up shows that family films and the Pixar brand are hugely profitable. The animated film banked a huge $68 million over the weekend. For a film that sells most of it’s tickets in half price matinees that’s a lot of attendance.

Last week’s champion Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian had to settle for the runner up spot with a weekend take of $25 million. With a total now over $100 million it looks like we might be in for a third installment.

Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man stop-gap, Drag Me To Hell, opened to a disappointing $16 million. It probably cost about $20 million to produce, so it’ll be profitable, but I’m sure Raimi wanted more.

Speaking of more – will we ever get to see any more Terminator films? With a weekend take of just $16 million for Terminator Salvation it looks like McG might not get to finish his proposed trilogy. Maybe international grosses will help. It looks like the franchise needed Schwarzenegger’s charisma and not just a grumpy looking Christian Bale.

Star Trek flew past the $200 million mark with a weekend gross of $12 million. Angels & Demons has crossed the $100 million milestone, but will the film be profitable to warrant a sequel? Doubtful.

Dance Flick made another $4 million giving the spoof a total gross of almost $20 million. Who pays money to see that?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine made just under $4 million this weekend bringing the Hugh Jackman starrer’s total to $170.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past hit $50 million and Beyonce Knowle’s Obsessed is closing in on $70 million.

MOVIE NEWS

1. Everyone wants Robert Downey Jr in their movie these days. It’s funny how times have changed. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have spoken about how they still hope to snag the Iron Man for their upcoming adaptation of Cowboys and Aliens.

Speaking to Sci-Fi Wire the duo said that they‘ve been speaking to Downey Jr about the film but that scheduling is the issue:

“We’ve been talking to him about that. He’s one of the busiest men on the face of the Earth. If the schedule can line up, we’d absolutely love it.”

The pair also said that they’re finishing up scripting duties on the film:

“We are just about to finish our draft of Cowboys and Aliens, which we are writing with Lost’s Damon Lindelof. For Cowboys and Aliens, we got an amazing first draft from Mark Fergus, who wrote Iron Man, and now we are continuing on with Damon. We are in the middle of the second draft.”

*Please note that Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman do speak separately.
They’re also incredibly in demand with Transformers 2 and Star Trek out this summer alone!

Source: Sci Fi Wire

2. Nicole Kidman has dropped out of Woody Allen’s forthcoming film. The Aussie star will be replaced by British actress Lucy Punch.

The plot and title for the film are unknown but sources believe:
“Punch will play a high-priced call girl similar to Ashley Dupre, who was at the center of the scandal that brought down New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.”

The cast for the film is pretty darn good – even for a Woody Allen film. Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas, Naomi Watts and Slumdog Millionaire’s Freida Pinto have roles in it.

Source: Variety

3. Natalie Portman will join Danny McBride and James Franco in Your Highness for Pineapple Express director David Gordon Green.

According to Variety:

“McBride, who wrote the script with Ben Best, plays an arrogant lazy prince who with his brother (Franco) must complete a quest to save the kingdom and his brother’s fiance. Portman will play a warrior princess that the lazy prince falls in love with.”

The Princess Bride with pot anyone?

Source: Variety

4. Seann William Scott and Adam Brody know A Couple of Dicks. The pair will join Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan in Kevin Smith’s forthcoming detective comedy.

“Scott plays a thief known as the Sh**t Bandit for the souvenirs he leaves at his robberies. Brody is an abrasive detective not happy to be working with Willis and Morgan.”

A Couple of Dicks starts shooting this Monday in New York.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

5. Chevy Chase seems to be on the comeback trail. Not only has the 80’s icon scored a role in John Cusack’s Hot Tub Time Machine but the Weinstein Company have apparently approached him with a script for a third Fletch movie.

With regards to Hot Tub Time Machine:

“Chase plays a mysterious repairman who dispenses pearls of wisdom and may or may not be behind the metaphysical road trip.”

Now, a Fletch film has been in the works for almost a decade. Kevin Smith originally wanted to make a Fletch film with Jason Lee, and then Scrub’s Zach Braff was attached to the project for a while, but nothing ever came of it. This new script is passing of the baton-type film where Chase’s Fletch advises his journalist nephew on his career.

With a bit of luck this will mean that we get to see more of the criminally underused Chase on the big screen.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

• Favreau & Downey Jr vs. Cowboys & Aliens
• Movie News Wrap Up: May 25, 2009
• Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: March 8, 2009
• Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: September 20, 2009
• Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: July 12, 2009
• Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: May 17, 2009

SPOILER ALERT!!! Most of the debate on Screen Rant’s Terminator Salvation discussion forum has been over what many felt were glaring plot holes in the film’s story. Questions like “How did Skynet know about Kyle Reese?”, “Why does Skynet need a T-800 when it already has Marcus Wright?” or “Since when are T-800s impervious to molten steel?” have popped up again and again and again.

Well, MTV News recently decided to end the trend of circular questioning by taking some of the most debated plot holes straight to Terminator Salvation director McG, who tried his best to plug them with some logical explanation.

Here are some fan-submitted Q&A snipits from MTV News‘ interview with McG (Again, HEAVY SPOILERS):

Q: In the earlier movies, Skynet is not aware of Kyle Reese. So, why are they aware of him now?

McG: It’s a function of their recon during the dark period, and a function of their awareness of the events that had happened since Kyle Reese traveled back. By virtue of John Connor being alive, that means Kyle Reese did meet Sarah Connor and impregnate her. That data exists, and was brought into the fold at Skynet.

Q: If Kyle Reese had been killed in “Salvation,” what would’ve happened to John Connor? Would he simply cease to exist?

McG: Will he be erased in the photograph, like in “Back to the Future”? That’s an excellent question that theorists have been bandying about for the ages. We play it more simply. Kyle Reese must be kept alive, so he can be sent back in time from 2029 to protect Sarah Connor, impregnate her and she’ll give birth to John Connor who will save us all. And the simplest way to understand that is to protect the triangle of Kyle, John and Sarah. Any deconstruction of that leads to more headache than satisfaction.

Q: How come lava melted a T-800 in “T2,” but it doesn’t in “Salvation”?

McG: That’s not lava. There are different characteristics of molten steels, and that was an earlier steel process after it had been separated from the coke. We went over this with a metallurgist, discussing which metals burn at which degrees. And also, if it had stayed on [the T-800], perhaps it would’ve melted him, but it was frozen quickly enough by the [liquid nitrogen]. Plus, we make the transition from the molten metal to the cooling property so quickly — as a function of the T-800 being on [John] Connor — that it wouldn’t have had time to melt the existing titanium exoskeleton in time.

Q: When Marcus is inside Skynet and learning about how he was created, the visage of Dr. Serena Kogan mentions that he’s managed to do something that none of the other Terminators have been able to. Is Skynet aware of the alternate futures and other events that have taken place?

McG: Skynet is aware of the alternate futures, and the way that we play it is in the spirit of parallel worlds, as theorized by Einstein. We try to pay attention to that approach to a fundamentally theoretical construct. So yes, they are aware of the other attempts on the life of John Connor, and they’ve always subscribed to a bigger-gun philosophy, from the T-800 to the T-1000 to the TX. Now they’ve decided to bring in a machine with enough humanity in it to properly infiltrate the Resistance and lure John Connor to their lair. That’s why Serena speaks of thinking differently, thinking radically.

Q: At the end of the film, is John Connor ever made aware that Marcus was an infiltration unit? Or does the secret die with him?

McG: That’s an interesting question. But I think it’s of very little consequence. What Connor is focused on [at the end of the movie] is that Marcus did come through for him and Kyle Reese. It wasn’t clear, when he gave his word at the riverside, whether that was an example of Skynet using the best of ourselves against us…his action transcends the question, if you follow me.

As I said, these are just a few choice snipits from the Q&A. For more answers to some Terminator Salvation plot and continuity questions (Will John Connor still be killed by a “T-850″ as hinted in T3? And what did Marcus do, exactly, to end up on death row?), you can check out MTV News‘ full Q&A session with McG by either going here or here.

Personally, I think McG did a good job addressing fans’ questions about some of the T4 plot holes – although it’s painfully obvious that he ducked that last question about John Connor ever realizing that Marcus is an infiltrator unit. Weren’t prepared for that one, huh McG?

In the end though, it doesn’t matter how well McG fills the plot holes of Terminator Salvation. We, as the audience, shouldn’t ever have to sift through MTV or Screen Rant blogs for these answers – the answers should be clear and stated within the context of the film. Period. The less guess work your audience is left with, the better.

Do you like the answers about T4 that McG is providing, or (like me) do you feel that the movie is solely responsible for filling in all the blanks?

Terminator Salvation is currently in theaters.

Source: MTV Movies Blog & MTV News

• New ‘Terminator Salvation’ Stills Hint At Story Elements
• Awesome Terminator Salvation Concept Art
• Terminator Salvation Details; Schwarzenegger Cameo In Doubt
• Terminator Salvation Review
• Terminator Salvation Prequel Giveaway – Winners!
• New Images From The Terminator Salvation Official Movie Companion

This week:
Ben Stiller has no time for Salvation at the box office; George Clooney is a Private Gentleman; Lyndsy Fonseca gets into the Hot Tub Time Machine; Milla Jovovich throws a Stone; Ridley Scott looks for a younger Robin Hood and Kevin Costner makes a western – I’m not kidding.

Box Office

It looks like Ben Stiller is going to stay bankable in family films. Night at the Museum 2: Battle Of The Smithsonian should bank an impressive $70 million over the four day weekend. Does that mean that they’ll inflict a third movie on us? Probably.

Terminator: Salvation will shoot up about $62 million over the long weekend. Not exactly the box office superstar they were hoping it would be.

Angels and Demons and Star Trek should both manage about $28 million over the weekend. Star Trek has blown past Wolverine in U.S. ticket sales despite having opened one week later – $191MM vs. $165MM. Worldwide Wolverine is still ahead of Star Trek.

Dance flick spoof.. Er… Dance Flick should pocket about $12 million.

Movie News

1. He was Dr Doug Ross; he was Batman and now he’s A Very Private Gentleman. George Clooney will star in an adaptation of the Martin Booth novel to be directed by Anton Corbjin.

According to Variety:
“Clooney will play an assassin who hides out in an idyllic Italian town before carrying out a final assignment. He resists his usual aversion to human interaction, and his friendships and romantic entanglements complicate his mission.”

Sounds like it could be a classy movie.

Source: Variety

2. Lyndsy Fonseca will be taking a dip in the Hot Tub Time Machine.
Fonseca will play John Cusack’s girlfriend in the film that has a hot tub which is a time machine.

The title says it all really.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

3. Milla Jovovich will star opposite Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton in Stone.

“Jovovich will play the wife of a convicted arsonist (Norton). Desperately looking to be paroled, Norton has Jovovich engage in a dangerous affair with his parole officer (De Niro), entrapping him in a series of deadly psychological games.”

DeNiro has been relatively quiet of late, remember a few years ago when he had a new film out every other week?

Source: Variety

4. Casting is underway in England for a young Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood. The filmmakers are looking for an 11 year old boy to play a younger version of the infamous folk hero. It looks like the film will be detailing all of Robin’s life and not just his tight wearing days in Sherwood Forest.

5. Former Robin Hood Kevin Costner is developing a western mini-series for A&E. Costner will produce the series and he may also direct and star – depending on the script.

Over the years Costner’s name has become synonymous with the western genre with the star having roles in Silverado, Dances With Wolves, Wyatt Earp and Open Range.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

• Will William Hurt Robin Hood?
• Star Trek Already Breaking Records
• Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: May 31, 2009
• Robin Finds His Hoods
• Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood Rides In Style
• Wolverine & Star Trek Outselling Iron Man In Ticket Sales

It appears that Terminator Salvation is going to be (pun alert!) terminated at the box office on its opening weekend, by none other than the family-friendly Ben Stiller comedy/adventure sequel, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

The final numbers from the Memorial Day long weekend have yet to be tallied, but as of now, it appears that Night at the Museum 2 has a clear lock on the no. 1 spot at the U.S. box office.

Here are the numbers for the weekend:

Night at the Museum 2 grossed $53.5 million from 4,096 theaters between Friday and Sunday. Terminator Salvation grossed approx $43 million from 3,530 theaters, making Night at the Museum 2 the clear winner of the weekend domestic box office race.

Of course those figures exclude Terminator Salvation’s opening day earnings: Salvation premiered at midnight on Thursday (instead of the usual Friday opening) and earned $13.6 million that day, bringing its cumulative total to $56.4 million from Thurs to Sun.

However, that extra bit of earnings isn’t going to be enough: Night at the Museum 2 also came in no. 2 at the international box office, earning $50.1 million from 8,100 theaters in 93 overseas markets, setting the film’s worldwide  gross earnings at approx $103 million. Terminator Salvation won’t open in international markets (or see those kinds of earnings) for another two weeks.

Suffice to say these current box office figures are a disappointment for Terminator Salvation director McG and studios Sony and Warner Bros., who invested $75 million and $50 million respectively in T4 (not including marketing costs). Doesn’t look like that investment is going to pay off like they hoped.

A second week resurgence for Terminator Salvation seems unlikely. Screen Rant’s review of Terminator Salvation is mixed at best, and if our Terminator Salvation discussion forum is any indication, audiences are echoing that mixed reaction. It’s Watchmen all over again. And, with Pixar’s UP hitting theaters next weekend (in Disney digital 3-D no less!), moviegoers both young and old are going to have the perfect excuse for not checking out Terminator Salvation.

Will this underwhelming performance at the box office affect McG’s plans for Terminator 5? (Let’s hope so, if he still plans to go ahead with that ridiculous time travel plot he’s been hinting at. The plot of T4 was shotty enough…)

Terminator Salvation and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian are both currently in theaters.

Source: Variety

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• Star Trek Already Breaking Records
• Terminator 5 May Go To London… If It Goes Anywhere
• Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: May 31, 2009
• Terminator Franchise Rights Up For Grabs

Here are the three lucky winners of this great Terminator Salvation giveaway:

• Thomas W. Hicks – Roswell, GA
• Alex Olivo – Lompoc, CA
• Natalie Henderson – Kent, UK

Thanks for entering and keep an eye out for more contests here at Screen Rant!

Thanks to Titan Books we have a pretty sweet giveaway for you. Of course we won’t know until the film actually comes out if Terminator Salvation turns out to be as great as it looks, but I’m optimistic.

So to commemorate the release of the film on May 22nd we’re giving away a triple, triple prize pack.

There’s no grand winner and runner-up, instead we’ll have three winners who will all get copies of:

• Terminator Salvation: The Official Movie Companion
  
• The Art of Terminator Salvation
  
• Terminator Salvation: The Official Movie Novelization

This is a NICE collection of books – two of them beautiful coffee table books suitable for display and the third a great read after you’ve seen the film to give you deeper background on what you saw on the big screen.

Here are the official descriptions:

Terminator Salvation: The Official Movie Companion

In a brand-new chapter in the Terminator saga, Judgment Day has come to pass and Skynet has destroyed much of the world’s population. In this post-apocalyptic world populated by deadly killing machines, the Resistance, including John Connor, continues its brutal fight for survival. The Official Movie Companion takes you behind-the-scenes of the making of the brand-new movie and contains exclusive interviews with the cast and crew, as well as an abundance of stunning, previously unseen photos.

The Art of Terminator Salvation

The Art of Terminator Salvation features hundreds of color illustrations, storyboards and intricate production designs, including detailed coverage of Skynet’s formidable arsenal such as Hunter-Killers, Harvesters and Hydrobots. With commentary from director McG, production designer Martin Laing, and other key members of the crew, this lavish volume is a celebration of a future world made real, and a showcase of the amazing talent that went into the making of this remarkable movie.

Terminator Salvation: The Official Movie Novelization

The eagerly awaited fourth Terminator movie, Terminator Salvation, starring Christian Bale as John Connor and directed by McG, reaches cinemas on 22 May 2009. The official novelisation will provide readers with the full story of this much-anticipated movie – a must for all Terminator fans!

Thanks to Titan books we’ll have more cool contests coming up over the next few months!

• Terminator Salvation Prequel Giveaway – Winners!
• Screen Rant’s Awesome Watchmen Giveaway – WINNERS!
• Awesome Terminator Salvation Concept Art
• ‘Star Trek: The Art of the Film’ – Contest Winners!
• New Terminator Salvation Trailer, Posters & Photos
• Terminator 5 May Go To London… If It Goes Anywhere

If you’ve been following Terminator Salvation news, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen updates, or both – Then you’ve probably heard of the little robot franchise feud between McG and Michael Bay, the directors of the two respective films, that’s been going on for a while.

Their back-and-forth ranged from Bay claiming ownership of big robots for his movies to McG wanting to measure his private parts against Bay’s. Putting that aside, let us move on to what’s really important: For John Connor, the savior of humanity against the machines, it doesn’t matter what franchise the robots come from, all of them are his enemy.

Check out this incredible trailer created by the talented and always-creative folks at Black20 (After hitting Play, click Widescreen to view it in the full video window):

Transforminators! That’s awesome.

I laughed out loud at the sand-eating scene and the implementing of a voice over from Bale’s infamous on-set rant and a scene from American Psycho.

For most moviegoers and bloggers, expectations where that Terminator Salvation would be of a higher quality movie but Transformers 2 would bank more at the box office. Sadly, with the terrible reviews for Terminator, that might not be the case.

What did you think?

Terminator Salvation is in theaters now and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen opens June 24, 2009.

Sources: IGN, Black20

• Cool New Terminator Salvation Picture
• New Transformers 2 Pics, Wallpapers
• Michael Bay Discusses Transformers 2 + The New Imax Poster
• Transformers 2 Advance Tickets Go On Sale June 10th
• Three New (Awesome) Transformers 2 Posters
• Transfomers 3: Michael Bay Ponders How to Make it Good

One of our most popular new features here at Screen Rant has been the movie spoiler discussion post, where people can feel free to talk about all aspects of a film without having to worry about spoiling it for others. You can check out our Terminator Salvation review but if you want to talk about the movie after having seen it I suggest you do so right here.

So discuss Terminator Salvation below to your heart’s content!

• Discuss Transformers 2 (Heavy Spoilers)
• What Did You Think Of Star Trek? (Spoiler Discussion)
• Cool New Terminator Salvation Picture
• Rumors Spoil The End Of ‘Terminator Salvation’
• Terminator Salvation Contest – Winners!
• Terminator Salvation Rated-R Director’s Cut On The Way

Short version: Terminator Salvation is great for the don’t-expect-much-except-action-out-of-a-summer-movie crowd, not so great if you’re looking for a worthy successor to the first two films.

Screen Rant reviews Terminator Salvation

For the record, I am not a McG hater, nor am I holding Christian Bale’s set meltdown against him. I realize that McG will be forever haunted by the fact he directed Charlies Angels – but I had really high hopes for Terminator Salvation… I wanted it to be great.

Unfortunately, it isn’t.

Why did I think that this long awaited addition to the Terminator movie franchise had even a snowball’s chance of being awesome? Because I had the sense that McG wanted to prove he could do it. While many people think that his film We Are Marshall isn’t all that great, I really enjoyed it and it demonstrated to me that he could actually do a film with characters you could care about.

But sadly, that’s exactly what’s missing from Terminator Salvation.

The film opens in 2003 with Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) in a prison cell on death row, hours before his execution. He’s visited by a scientist who has cancer (Helena Bonham Carter) and wants him to donate his body to science. She seems desperate to get him to sign, and he’s not very cordial to her despite her situation and his.

The first problems in the film surface right at the start – why is she so desperate for him in particular to donate his body? Don’t scores of people have organ donation cards in their wallets? And then there’s his mysterious background – he’s responsible for the death of his brother and two police officers… neither of these is ever explained in the film (nor in the prequel novel for that matter, which I did read).

From there the film jumps to some serious actiony goodness in 2018. I won’t give anything away other than to say we get to see Christian Bale as John Connor almost immediately and he’s involved on a mission that does not end up going very well. At all. Very satisfying first look at the future including some fantastic action and cool visuals/camera angles.

The upshot is that the resistance (not led at this point by Connor) has found a way to defeat Skynet. Connor volunteers to test it on a small scale before the big move against Skynet central. However that plot line becomes secondary to the story of Marcus Wright and his involvement with a young Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin). For the non-fans out there, Reese is the man who was sent back in time to save Sarah Connor and is the father of John Connor. At the point this film takes place that hasn’t happened yet (does your head hurt yet?).

Marcus doesn’t seem to have aged at all although 15 years have passed, and there is a mystery surrounding him. He runs into Kyle and the young girl he’s taken under his protection and very grudgingly goes along with them since he doesn’t really know what’s going on – and Reese did keep him from being killed by a T-600 (that’s the bigger and bulkier predecessor to the T-800, aka the Schwarzenegger Terminator).

The film eventually brings together Wright and Connor via resistance pilot Blair (Moon Bloodgood). There’s an issue of trust and conflict between the two that becomes the major issue in the film.

(continue for the verdict…)

• New ‘Terminator Salvation’ Stills Hint At Story Elements
• New Images From The Terminator Salvation Official Movie Companion
• Bale Quotes Arnold In New Terminator Salvation TV Spot
• Awesome Terminator Salvation Concept Art
• McG Plugs Some Terminator Salvation Plot Holes
• WonderCon 2009 – Terminator Salvation Panel

Today we have a little collection of set photos for the upcoming Clash of the Titans remake. Some are of the awesome set pieces being put together and the newer ones are of Sam Worthington on set and in costume as Perseus.

Sam Worthington is huge in Hollywood and he’s still not ever had a big movie hit theaters! This all changes very soon with the Australian actor playing a major part in this Thursday’s Terminator Salvation, and the starring in James Cameron’s game-changer 3-D epic Avatar this December and he’s currently shooting this upcoming remake of Clash of the Titans.

Not a bad trio of movies to make a splash amongst the movie-going audience.

Take a look at these photos (Some are older that we didn’t cover yet, some are new):

Sam Worthington as Perseus

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• Sam Worthington as Perseus in Clash Of The Titans
• Fiennes And Neeson Clash Over Titans

With the release of the sci-fi blockbuster Terminator Salvation looming, the inevitable first and early reviews for the movie have been made available. And the words are not as positive as you might be hoping or thinking.

There aren’t enough reviews to even call this even a handful, but the three that there are, from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and a college website - “One of these things is not like the others…” – join together for an overall verdict of “mixed.” Variety and College Times are quite positive (with reservations), but THR is… well, let’s just say less positive about it. Check out some excerpts from the trio of reviews:

Variety

Darker, grimmer and more stylistically single-minded than its two relatively giddy predecessors, “Terminator Salvation” boasts the kind of singular vision that distinguished the James Cameron original, the full-throttle kinetics of “Speed” and an old-fashioned regard for human (and humanoid) heroics. Only pic’s relentlessly doomsday tone — accessorized by helmer McG’s grimy, gun-metal palette — might keep auds from flocking like lemmings to the apocalypse.

McG… exhibits an unexpected flair for the dreadful, abrupt and awesome. What we get here — which was perhaps missing on the relatively sunny mental landscapes of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” — is a sense of real horror: When humans are snatched up like Cheez-Doodles by skyscraper-sized Go-bots, there’s no slo-mo relief or stalling. Stuff happens as it might were the world actually overtaken by demonic appliances.

Christian Bale… is, once again, a movie star playing second fiddle. Heath Ledger stole “The Dark Knight” away from him and Sam Worthington (who will appear in Cameron’s “Avatar” this Christmas) heists “Terminator Salvation” from Bale…

McG’s direction is always intelligent… The script by John Brancato and Michael Ferris occasionally goes off the rails… the obligatory borrowing from the previous movies (”Come with me if you want to live,” “I’ll be back …”) tend to upset the mood created within McG’s bleached-out world, which is very deliberate and doesn’t need the comic relief.

The Hollywood Reporter

The machines rise to the occasion. Too bad the dramatic element’s just as robotic.

…while incoming director McG (the “Charlie’s Angels” movies) certainly gets a rise out of the machinery in the post-apocalyptic thriller, there’s little sign of life where the flatly executed human component is concerned.

Although director McG manages to keep the machinery humming 18 years after James Cameron’s “Judgment Day” and its liquid metal raised the F/X stakes considerably, anchoring it in any sort of satisfying dramatic context is another story.

“Rise of the Machine” scripters John Brancato & Michael Ferris fail to give Bale and Worthington much opportunity to stand out from all the monochromatic rubble…

But at the end of the day, despite the still-potent landscape provided by cinematographer Shane Hurlbut, production designer Martin Laing and visual effects supervisor Charles Gibson — the film is dedicated to the late Stan Winston, who designed the first T-800 — and that rumbling, propulsive Danny Elfman score, an inescapable truth remains: It’s just not the same without the Governator.

College Times

Does the series still fare well even with the time change and nearly complete cast makeover? What may come as a surprise to many is yes, Terminator: Salvation is still a good entry and a marked improvement over its third predecessor that may not exactly set the sci-fi genre ablaze with its effects or plot line but progresses the saga in an interesting direction with good action to boot.

Perhaps the biggest mistakes that McG’s entry makes is based more on lack of innovation and ambition. Terminator: Salvation is definitely big and spectacular as an action sci-fi movie, yet it lacks the punch and complete terror that came with the first two entries.

Terminator: Salvation has a lot of great action sequences that effectively ramp up in the amount of effects and fights seen on screen. Tensions run high when a massive robot starts to take human prisoners or through a one-on-one showdown between human versus robot. It is non-stop and gritty…

All in all, neither action nor Terminator fans should be displeased with McG’s work. Anyone expecting a genre-defining, science fiction film as explosive as the first two Terminators, though, are going in with too high of expectations.

Although these are only three of the hundreds of reviews that will eventually be published about the new Terminator, it’s still a bit on the disappointing side to see so many weaknesses pointed out. Obviously since it’s the guy who gave us the Charlie’s Angels movies who’s bringing us this film, it’s not going to be one of the all-time classics (like the first two in the series are). But from the trailers it really does look like one amazing movie.

That’s skilled trailer editors, for ya’…

I expect the movie to fall somewhere in between the level of Terminator 2 and a silly, over-the-top throwaway movie. At the very least it will be an entertaining movie, especially if you just treat it as what it essentially is – a summer blockbuster.

If you want to read the full reviews highlighted in this post, you can head over to Variety, THR and College Times.

What do you make of the mixed nature of the first reviews for Terminator Salvation? Is it what you expected from the movie?

Terminator Salvation is scheduled to open this Thursday in the US, and on June 3rd in the UK.

Sources: Variety, THR and College Times

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