The Latest on ‘Terminator: Genesis’

terminator5Terminator fans have a lot to be excited about these days. Heck, even folks that have soured on the franchise may have reason to be interested again. Terminator: Genesis is set to begin filming next month and, with that, comes some news on what direction the series is heading in. Some of what’s floating around is coming straight from the mouth of the T-800 himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and some of it is coming from the often-reliable folks at Moviehole.

First, let’s look at this quote from the Austrian Oak about the production itself:

We start filming in the middle or in the end of April and it will be a four or four-and-a-half month long shoot. We will be filming it in New Orleans with some of it in San Francisco and maybe a little of it in LA but most of it will be done in New Orleans. I’m really looking forward to that because as you know, the last time when they did the Terminator, it was when I was Governor and so Icouldn’t be in that movie but now I’m back again and they are very excited about having me in the film. And David Ellison, who has produced all the big movies lately, has plenty of money to do it well. He’s in partnership with Paramount Pictures who are going to release the movie through their distribution. I’m really looking forward to that and it’s going to come out on July 4th weekend in 2015. The movie preparation is going well. The script is fantastic so I’m really looking forward to this film.

So that’s some harmless lip service. Doesn’t really reveal much, and could just be Arnie’s way of saying, “Give us a chance! Dis is going to be COOL!” But the scoop over at Moviehole? Now that‘s something to get excited about. As always, this is a mere rumor until it’s confirmed but the site claims it’s source is 2-for-2 with scoops it’s given them so far. So let’s enter scoop/rumor land for a bit:

terminator-ss

Chief amongst people’s concerns, or disdain, when it comes to all of the Terminator films post-T2 is the feeling of “Why bother? There’s nowhere else to go from here. They averted Judgement Day. They closed the loop. The story is over. STOP MILKING THIS DAMN THING!” The two sequels since then have thusly struggled to justify their existence, since James Cameron put such a clearly-defined period at the end of his story. Well, it looks like the filmmakers behind Genesis (which MH claims will be the title) may have figured out a fresh way to revisit and reboot the series…within the same cinematic universe set up in Cameron’s seminal first two films.

In essence, the site claims that they’re going to take a page out of J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek reboot and create an alternate timeline. A timeline that doesn’t negate what came before it in the eyes of longtime fans, but takes us back to a critical point where an alternate reality is created and resets the story. Think of Back To The Future II, where they revisit 1955 because something was altered in the past that affects their present (1985).

back to the future doc

Also similar to BttF II, Terminator: Genesis will revisit certain key scenes from the previous films to show where, and how, things get skewed. So we should expect to see recreations of certain pivotal moments from the first two films, with new actors in place and- presumably- a digitally de-aged Schwarzenegger. This also means that even small-ish characters from the first films, be they Sarah Connor’s roommate or Detective Vukovich (Lance Henriksen), and even John Connor’s foster parents from T2 will be involved in the story somehow. MH even says that Sarah’s iguana from the first film will be here!

I must say, as someone who turned his back on the post-Cameron Terminator flicks, this sounds like the best way to get people back. Rather than some ham-fisted, “Things were going to end up this way no matter what!” explanation that we got in the last two sequels, which essentially sapped T2 of its power and dramatic tension, this seems like a solid way to use the Terminator universe’s established time travel elements to create something fresh while still honoring the better films in the series.

Similar to how Abrams’s Star Trek made me interested, for the first time ever, in the Trek universe, something like this- if executed masterfully- could restore my faith in the Terminator franchise. It’s all in the execution. If it’s half-baked in any way, though, then it’ll just be another pointless cash-in. So we shall see.

What do you think? Interested in Terminator: Genesis?

SOURCE: The Arnold Fans/Moviehole

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