No word just yet on the price, but I'm estimating it will cost one adult human's dignity. While the armor is ridiculous and looked hot on Bale (strange stomach-muscle ridges aside) I'm pretty sure nobody else could pull off this look, let alone on a motorcycle. But if you can afford it — and I'm sure it's coming with a hefty price tag — more power to you.

An Officially Licensed Replica Like No Other is Coming.

- Strong Cordura Mesh Base with Heavy-duty 4 way stretch Spandex
inserts.
- Removable CE Approved Body Armor in both Jacket and Pants
- Highly detailed, removable lightweight interior lining.
- Form Molded Leather and Kevlar Armor Sectons.
- Made from Quality Tanned Cow Hides

- COMING SOON

[Universal Designs via Geekologie]

Last week rumors leaked that Nolan couldn't find a story for the third Batman movie, since Heath Ledger's Joker was supposed to continue on as the villain in the third feature. In an interview with MTV, Bale seemed to confirm that rumor, stating:

"I truly don't know that we're going to see another Batman movie."

When asked if that saddened him, because Chris doesn't feel like doing it, Bale answered somberly:

I wouldn't see Chris as being so whimsical as that. It would be purely that he would need to find a story that is good enough. And if he can't find one then it might not happen.

But finally, and we think maybe the reason for Bale's sour disposition, is the question, "Would you work with another director?" To which Bale skirted and said:

I don't even know if there will be a third so I'm a step away from even having to have to consider that.

Oh silly Bale. The Dark Knight printed a small South American country's annual money supply for Warner Brothers, you'll be in this film even if they decide to let Brett Ratner direct it. But that's what you're really scared of, isn't it? Hey maybe you could rewrite the next Bat too, if it comes down to it.

Speaking of bad rewrites, at the press junket, Bale also revealed that no-one has been talking to him about a Terminator 5. I wonder why?

As we suggested yesterday, Night At The Museum 2 has beaten Terminator Salvation to take the crown of the Memorial Day weekend box office; final estimates show Ben Stiller's reanimated comedy making $53.5 million in the Friday-Sunday period, while Salvation trails behind with $43.0 million. Worryingly for McG and Christian Bale, this ends up being a million dollars less than the opening weekend for Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines, even before you adjust for inflation in ticket sales, and things only look worse for the new movie when you do the math. Box Office Mojo has pointed out that both T2 and T3 sold more tickets than the current movie, and added:

Based on the patterns of past Memorial debuts, the highest that Terminator can climb is around $57 million for the four-day weekend, which would give it more than $70 million in five days. Unadjusted, Terminator 3 made $72.4 million in its first five and a half days.

So why the disappointing turnout (For some sense of comparison, Star Trek had an opening weekend of around $75 million)? Warner Bros are suggesting that the movie's narrow target demographic was hurt by what else was happening this weekend:

Time Warner Inc (TWX.N)-owned Warner Bros. said "Terminator" was likely more affected by competition for older men from the National Basketball Association playoffs, which hurt business in cities like Los Angeles.

Alternatively, the bad reviews may have taken their toll. Or, just maybe - as blasphemous as this may sound - mainstream audiences just aren't that interested in dystopian machine-controlled future war right now.

Check out Warner Bros.' official treasure trove of high-res photos from the movie, including robot mayhem and Christian Bale and Sam Worthington fighting their way through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. (More pics at the bottom):

It turns out Bale wasn't originally in line to play John Connor at all. At the Terminator Salvation press round table this weekend, we found out from the movie's director that Bale was originally pitched the role of Marcus, played by Sam Worthington.

McG casually told us when discussing changes made to the original script:

"What can you do when you go to Christian Bale, and say, 'Hey, Christian we want you to play Marcus,' and he says, "I want to play Connor." You say, 'Maybe we need to go back and make his a little bit more of a two-header.' [referring to both Sam and Christian in the picture]. Listen, film-making is about being able to adapt and doing what's right. You never stop working on the script, and you never stop working on the film. My style is the style of doing a great deal of listening... I did a great deal of listening to amend the picture to what it is today. It's an ongoing process, but at the end of the day, these guys put forth the reason were all here [addressing the film's screenwriters].

Later we got to ask Christian about that same thing at the junket.

Can you talk about why you wanted to do John Connor rather than Marcus when they offered you this movie?

I can't really remember why, why the difference between those two characters in that choice. I'd read it in a few places that people said that I was unhappy with the original script. And I wasn't the only one. Everybody was saying that there needed to be changes made to it. Connor was a character who appeared very, very briefly in the original [Salvation script]. Which I was happy to do, if the story could become something worthy of reviving this mythology. However, we had a few writers, because of the whole situation with the writer's strike, and coming off of that. But we were very lucky for the short time that he was able to work on it, that my friend, Jonah Nolan, came in.

And Jonah said to me, "Christian, do you want me to write this with the same involvement that Connor has in the original one, or do you want me to increase you?" And I said, "I don't mind what you do, just whatever the best story is. And I don't want to work for one week." Which was originally all I was meant to do, "on a movie that has no chance." So I said, "just do whatever it is you need to do, whatever makes the best story, bring it to me after, and we'll work it out." I think it was true, he couldn't find a way that made sense and that also gave a connection to the previous movies, without having Connor involved more than was in that original [screenplay].

These movies are so much about the dangers of modern technology. What technology that you see now do you find a little bit frightening?

The photo downloads where it will tell you where every single picture [was taken], you know? Down to every damn street, it feels very Big Brother. It's fascinating, but it's very Big Brother as well. Hmm, the whole security systems, where people have all the cameras set up in their homes. I'm convinced that there is somebody watching and listening, the entire time. Things like that — what's it called — GM has something like that, On Star? You can press a button and you can speak with somebody and they can hear you. Oh yeah, like they're not listening in an awful lot, just to get that.

Do you remember the first time you saw Terminator?

The first time I saw the first movie, which would have been a number of years after it got released, it was fun. It was something that had a strong impact. But when I was 17 and I just came out to the states, I went to see T2, and that was very memorable. It was opening weekend, I couldn't hear a damn thing that was said in the movie because everybody was screaming so much, throughout it. So it was an introduction to American audiences but also to a movie that seemed to just make everybody crazy in that way. I really enjoyed that. The idea of doing another one didn't seem to be smart, to me. There are no other similarities between the movies, and I don't mean to compare, I don't like to compare. But it's seen that way with the initial idea of reviving the Batman movies. And even though they're very different sensibilities, I came to believe that there were some potentially good stories here. I enjoyed it enough that I would like to see it revived.

Are you an Arnold fan?

I think that it's always admirable when you're the originator. Of course he's had many imitators and we've sort of moved on now from the 80s, and big beefy guys. But he was the first, and so hats off to him. You look at what that guy's achieved, its a phenomenon. [SPOILER] So yeah absolutely I get a thrill seeing the scene where Connor faces off against the original T-800. [Spoiler ends here]

If you had to be stranded on an island with either John Connor or Batman, who would it be?

I wouldn't want to be stranded with either — they're men.

If you had to pick one?

I don't have to pick one, does either of them have a gun? Shoot one of them, and then I'm much happier. I don't think they're good guys for hanging out with on a beach.

Do you think Chris Nolan might come around to doing it [another Batman] after his next movie?

I've learned my lesson there. I don't mention anything until Chris has mentioned it first.

Catch Terminator Salvation in theaters on May 21st. Meanwhile, here are some more killer photos:

While discussing Terminator Salvation with reporters here in Los Angeles, Bale shared how he felt at the passing of Ballard and revealed that he was looking to adapt a Ballard film with a "director friend."

Since you portrayed J.G. Ballard when you were younger, do you have any thoughts about his passing?

It was such a surprise. I had, had indirect contact with him recently because a director friend of mine, and myself, were looking into optioning one of his books. He's such a great mind, such a great writer.

It was surprisingly emotional for me when I read that. He was somebody who, I considered, was at the beginning of me deciding to become an actor. He was an iconic writer, so unique. It's a great shame, that if we get to adapt this novel of his. Ill definitely miss being able to catch up with him, no longer as a 13-year-old boy. Yeah I would have enjoyed that very much, picking his brain.

What novel is that?

I don't know if its definitely going to happen. We've got great intentions to make it happen.

Having acted in the movie adaptation of Empire Of The Sun at such a young age, and knowing how massively that impacted his career, it's no wonder Bale is a fan of Ballard (besides the fact that hes a brilliant writer). But what novel do you think he's interested in? Personally I'd like to see Bale in The Burning World or High Rise (especially High Rise), but who knows what he's looking for? A big blockbuster? Small award winning character driven movie? I could easily see Concrete Island appealing to Bale or any of the World books.

I leave it in your hands, what do you think?

UPDATE: We just got a tip from reader Jamieson McGonigle, who points to Concrete Island as the novel in question:

I can tell you definitively that the adaptation he's speaking of is Concrete Island. Brad Anderson currently has the rights to make the film and is the director friend he's speaking of.

This makes a lot of sense: The premise is actorly Bale material. A rich man crashes his jaguar on a manmade concrete island, surrounded by a motorway. He has to survive on the contents of his luxury sports vehicle, and slowly starts to lose his mind, as castaways so often do. Plus Anderson worked with Bale on El Maquinista, so there's a history there. Sure this is all just speculation at this point, but hopefully these two can make this cool project happen.

Until we find out, watch Bale in Terminator Salvation on May 21st as THE John Connor.

Terminator Salvation, of course, comes out on May 21. [Sarah Connor Society]

According to "industry gossip" (which means: lots and lots of papers got excited about something they read, but can't remember where), Bale may be damaged goods after his on-tape melt down. This is the passage that everyone is quoting:

Industry gossip now suggests the rising Australian star could score the part of Batman in the third installment of the successful prequel franchise.

That could mean replacing Bale, his Terminator co-star and The Dark Knight lead, whose profile was damaged after his infamous "me, me, me" meltdown on the Terminator set, which recently hit the internet.

We scanned for the original source reporting and the closest we could get is News.com.au, who doesn't quote a source and doesn't have original reporting, so it sounds like they're just band-wagoning from somewhere else. So if you actually see where this lunacy was reported please point it out, but my guess it's pure rumor-mongering.

Forget the fact that Bale already has a contract with the WB for the next Batman, this rumor is absolutely absurd. I don't care if Bale was caught on camera lighting kittens on fire wrapped in an American flag, this man is still pretty untouchable. How's that? Because he made Warner Brothers a bazillion dollars playing Batman. Do you really think the WB would risk losing Dark Knight money over a silly tape that will be ancient history in a year or two?

You heard what it was like on set with the man - they let him do whatever the hell he wants, because he's Christian Bale. You think anyone would be originally this excited about Terminator Salvation, if Bale's name wasn't first attached to it? McG even admitted he rewrote the entire script just to get Bale to sign on. There is no way in hell they will take Batman away from Bale, it would be risking way too much. So just remember when you hear this out there today, it's most likely crap. In fact I'm willing to bet one robot tattoo, it's total bollocks.

"I was trying to show a little of that in-the-blood craziness" in the scene being shot, and then he went off at the DP, because he was mixing up fact and fiction. "I'm half John Connor, half Christian there." So there you have it - post-apocalyptic method acting sometimes goes off the rails. [KROQ]

James Cameron loyalists, rest assured: it's going to be a fun ride.

Before the screening, director McG sat us all down, and told us the tale of getting Terminator Salvation made. The producers approached him with the idea, and he was initially skeptical — as I would be if I heard someone pitch another Terminator movie.

But McG liked the angle, and went about procuring the best and the brightest, starting with seeking out James Cameron for a pseudo-blessing, and ending with Christian Bale telling him to rewrite the entire thing, or he's out. McG's a smart director, he knew he needed someone with crazy acting chops to make fighting a giant robo-puppet believable these days. So he hired Jonah Nolan, and they wrote the story that we all love to watch: the creation of a hero.

"We started working on this becoming story of how Connor indeed became the leader of the resistance," McG explained. "And we were both passionate about those genesis stories where you think, "I'm just a high school newspaper guy." "No, you're Peter Parker. With great power comes great responsibility." "I'm just a computer hacker." "No, you're Neo. You're the one." We like that idea. This is the story about how Connor became the leader of the resistance."

But on to the goods, first the was a quickie compilation that showed a cavalry of helicopters coming to the rescue, and general John Connor ass-kickery. But finally they got to the clips: the first scene was all about Sam Worthington's character Marcus Wright, meeting Kyle Reese. To put it McG style:

When you meet Marcus in the beginning of the movie, he's being put to death in the modern day. And he's down on himself... He's in this life of privilege that he only ever saw the bad side to. Then he wakes up in this world of duress, after the bombs have gone off. And he discovers what is worthwhile about humanity. The courage of this little kid, the kindness of an elderly woman..."

Marcus, Kyle Reese and an unknown floppy-haired kid descend upon the hollowed out, worn-down 7-11 (that we've seen in set pictures before). The two scavenge for food, as a bewildered Marcus looks on. Reese is practically telling Marcus what to do and what not to do, which jibes with what McG told us about Marcus waking up in another world in the future, unaware of what has happened to him, or around him. The look itself is silvery and dirty, thanks to the specially tinted film McG mixed up himself. Everyone has a bit of a silver gloss over the shadowy part of his face, and dark circles and wrinkles are amplified to the 1000th degree across the screen. It's beautifully brutal.

The floppy-haired kid finds a small amount of milk, but they before they can devour it, a group of Mad Max-looking types pop out of their hiding places, guns a-blazin'. They shout that this is their food and fuel. Reese tries to exit without setting off any itchy trigger fingers. Yet a wise old woman stops the gang and offers up some food to the kid with the bad hair. Everyone calms down for a minute, but you all know that when things are too quiet, there's a big bad on the way. Sure enough a massive metal Harvester rips through the ceiling and carries off the good-natured woman. All the others disperses to their assembly of beat-up Saabs and trailers, and speeds away in fear, to their detriment of course. These Harvesters are wreaking destruction, "all in the interest of collecting humans so they can do nasty things to us, all in the spirit of creating the T-800," the director explained. Run, humans, run to your dirty cars and grab your shotguns, but it will do you no good, that Harvester is damn near indestructible. The action scene was tightly filmed and, thank god, didn't have an inch of shaky cam.

Since we got a good look at the really big bots in Terminator Salvation, let's just nip this whole Transformers versus Terminator controversy in the bud. Even though the effects that I witnessed last night were by no means finished, you could see what McG and friends were trying to do.

Granted, the Harvester does shoot off the wheelie Mototerminators from its legs in a very Transformery manner, but it's nothing like Transformers. The Harvesters rattle off a guteral moan so frightening, it'd make the Cloverfield monster piss his pants. It's cold, calculating robots killing and abducting men, the best way they know how. There's no personality or sassy attitudes, it is simply a gloriously intense moment of robots exterminating and capturing people. If anything, the few moments I caught felt more like the first 15 terrifying minutes of Planet Of The Apes more so than Transformers, especially with the fast pace and the ever-present fear of being dragged about by a robot into a pen filled with humans. It's cruel and fast, just like a Terminator should be. No room for witty banter or "talk to the hand" references in this movie — it would be out of place in a world where milk is a luxury.

Someone asked McG if he was worried about the Transformers comparison, and he pretty much blew it off, saying the movies are so completely different, that they just couldn't be compared.

Most of the music was filler, since the great Danny Elfman has just signed on board for Terminator 4. But we got to hear McG's original idea, of using Gustavo Santaolalla for the human-interaction scenes, paired with Thom Yorke's Radiohead robot-dream tunes for any Skynet heavy moments. This idea got thrown to the wayside after sitting down and talking with the regular spooky Elfman. Note to Yorke: it's still totally okay to pursue this idea, in fact, I'll send you my money now to see what kind of sounds you'd dream up for a Terminator flick.

The next scene pitted John Connor against a Hydrobot's tentacles, which easily kill off his crew and sinks Connor's hovering helicopter. Finally after a few more minutes of Hydrobot wrasslin', we're treated to a tiny taste of what McG described as a Faustian deal with the devil moment. He was talking about Marcus, who's been exposed as a Terminator, finding an uneasy truce with Connor so they can bust the young Kyle Reese out of the human containment facility. Yet another awesome action scene, and I admit I had a few "Oh no, look out behind you, J.C." moments. But my appetite wasn't quenched with the back-and-forth. McG is making a platform for this movie based on the stand-out dialog and acting, and I wanted to see a lot more of that.

In fact I have a feeling a lot of this movie may be full of Bale-face:

"Christian is so powerful," McG said. "There are several times in the movie where I stay on him for one shot and I don't cut. I'm talking 2 or 3 pages of dialogue where you stay on Christian Bale. He's controlling his breathing, he's choosing when he blinks, he's in such command of his physicality that it doesn't require cutting."

So does the back-and-forth moment deliver? Sure. Is it the most amazing intense holy-shit-my-mind-is-blown moment? Not yet, but I feel like that is yet to come (probably in the final big reveal). Which is pretty much what I'm hinging this entire movie upon. So far, it is full of good looking adrenaline inducing crazy that hits right in the gut where a great action movie should. So if you believe McG about Bale's performance, pair that with Bale's acting on set and you won't be able to rip your eyes away from him.

Still, we all know about the big twist ending that's been reported wildly across the internet, which the director insisted again was completely not true, but either way we know there is a twist. A twist that may "piss off a lot of people," quoth McG. This is what I'll hang my final decision on, only because it should change the way I view everything about the past and future of the Terminator franchise.

I'm just so happy to report to all of you that it's really coming together nicely. Our goal was always to make a big movie, one of the best movies. Because for a long time there I think the summer fare really fell off. And summer movies were becoming a little sloppy, a little disposable. I think with the Dark Knight this year that's an elegant, elegant artistic offering, and the second biggest picture in the history of cinema.

So if we're clever, we can make a big movie that's a lot of fun but and certainly a summer movie — but also an important movie, especially a movie in this genre. I think any good science fiction movie really works on two levels. The Matrix is a great example where you can watch it and say "Hey wow, that's fun that's really explosive" and then all of us can go to a graduate class at NYU and spend four years discussing the theological implications of what the Wachowskis were discussing.

Me too, McG, me too. No longer shall I join in the "fuck that guy from Charlie's Angels" chorus (which the director himself pointed out was one of the most hated on things about him thus far, besides the name). God help me, after last night I'm really pushing for a McG victory here.

Film School Rejects has two new T4 pics they unearthed from the internet, and that desolate future, where man is practically extinct, looks absolutely lovely. Maybe it's the setting sun, but John Connor's "magic hour" is quite lovely in the hollowed out shell that is LA. Is it wrong when I look at this and John Williams' music starts playing in my head? It's just so Tatooine, in a good way.

I'm looking forward to seeing more and more of the fun part human, part robot pictures, but these beauties will do for now. Terminator Salvation opens in theaters on May 22, 2009.

The following is just one of the in-depth discussions over the list this past week (this one between your humble weekend editor and Meredith Woerner), in which we uncover the origins of Meredith's Terminator love and also perhaps some of our personal biases in the process. And for everyone who felt that Will Smith didn't deserve his placement? Meredith's got your back.

Meredith: I think [Christian] Bale is more powerful than Will Smith as of the end of 2008. Next year? Who knows.

Graeme: I completely disagree; Bale can't get something greenlit on his name alone yet, and Smith still can (sadly).

Meredith: If this was 2007, I'd agree. I think that after Hancock and I Am Legend, they switched roles.

Graeme: I haven't seen Bale get any pet projects greenlit, but Hancock and I Am Legend are both getting sequels despite disappointing box office...

Meredith:: But I think people are going to be giving Big Willy a break for a while as Dark Knight made the real numbers this year and Terminator is already going to double anything Will did. No one cares about them, but people care about Bale. People are slowly backing away from Will.

Graeme: Terminator is not going to double everything Smith did. He's had massive successes in the past, and Terminator is going to be successful to the extent of something like Iron Man, not a Dark Knight. I think people care about Nolan and Batman, not Bale. Nerds like us care about Bale, because of Batman. That's all.

Meredith: i think that Terminator will double anything Will Smith made this year and I'm willing to put money on it.

Graeme: Yeah, but Smith had a shitty year, and that's not what you originally said. I'll put money on Terminator making less than Transformers, if you want.

Meredith: Nuh-uh. That's what I said. At this moment right now, Bale is bigger than Smith, but all Smith has to do is make another Men In Black and he's back on top.
At this minute, right now, Bale is bigger.

Graeme: He's not, though! Dark Knight the movie is bigger, sure. But Bale isn't as an actor.

Meredith: Seriously, I know what you're saying, and agree. Smith is one movie away from being back on top. But right now, Bale is more powerful.

Graeme: Bale hasn't had a smash outside of Batman, though.

Meredith: Right now.

Graeme: You can't say that just because DK was massive that he's suddenly on top.

Meredith: Riiiiight now. And yes, yes I can. That movies success will forever be tied to him no matter what you think (along with others). Plus Terminator is around the corner. He's on top. Will is sitting next to him, but with no respect.

Graeme: Anyway, DK was so big because of Ledger and Nolan, not Bale.

Meredith: Oh man, you're just saying anything now.

Graeme: You're in love with Christian, and it's clouding your judgement, young Woerner.

Meredith: Ha ha ha

Graeme: Bale wasn't the one everyone was talking about in DK, Ledger was. Plus, Bale wasn't even that GOOD in DK.

Meredith: I know, I'm just saying that right now, in my opinion, Hancock and Legend moved Will down a peg, and and DK and Terminator moved Bale up one. So maybe neck and neck?

Graeme: Maybe, but overall, I think Smith is still more powerful.

Meredith: I think that this time next year, Smith could be back easily. All it would take is one good movie, which isn't hard for him.

Graeme: Smith can get shit done because of his record; Bale can't, because he's only had the one massive movie, and even then, he wasn't really the lead.

Meredith: Right, but now, in my mind, they're practically even. With Bale a little higher.

Graeme: Because you love him. In real terms, Smith is more powerful.

Meredith: Right now, I don't think anyone wants to take a meeting with Smith. They need to let the stink wash off his last two movies. Hopefully, this 7 thing will help.

Graeme: Are you serious? Dude, anyone will take a meeting with him - He's still the most bankable star around. Even WITH Hancock and I Am Legend.

Meredith: No, I think right now people wouldn't want to put money in him at this exact moment. But in a month? Sure. Maybe Hasbro would want to meet with Smith, but I think people that are working on the next big thing want to work with Bale.

Graeme: Did Will kill your dog?

Meredith: No, he killed my fantasy of having an interesting superhero movie from Peter Berg.

Graeme: So it is personal.

Meredith: It's hard because, if this list was going up in August, it would definitely be Bale because of the amazing job he's going to do in Terminator. But it's not, and I don't think the Will Smith deserves the powerful title as he made terrible decisions in scifi this year. So maybe it's a little personal.

Graeme: Why do you think Bale is going to do an amazing job? Trailer or blind hope? The movie could suck, you know.

Meredith: I have a lot of faith in this movie because I think it's a new look on the Terminator that was thought out. The look, the talent McG brought in it's all setting up for a good movie. The only thing I'm worried about is the ending.

Graeme: Also, Smith is a producer, so surely that makes him more powerful than Bale alone? (Yes, I will keep arguing this.)

Meredith: Oh, WHATEVER TO THAT. I'm a producer of my apartment. And a producer to my cat. See, I can use the word producer too.

Graeme: Yeah, but he's a producer of movies. That get made.

Meredith: Yeah, Hitch definitely needed to be made. Same with ATL and those few episodes of the Fresh Prince he produced. But yes, I will give you that over Bale, though I'm not sure if that's a good thing. I honestly think Bale is someone that people have invested in over the years. And now they are finally getting the payback they want. We'll have to see how his gangster movie with Depp does to really tell but I think people are ready to cash in on Bale and move away from Smith.

Graeme: WHO?!? Apart from you, with your personal Bale shrine.

Meredith: Speaking of that shrine, I need more nag champa for it, ya jerk.

Graeme: I think that, if Terminator isn't massively massive, Bale's star will fade very fast. He's not a natural blockbuster star, he's more indie/character actor, I think. And if McG is in... well, McG mode, then Terminator may stiiiiink.

Meredith: But I think McG is actually trying. Honestly, you say Bale isn't as good as Smith right now just because he's sitting on top of the Dark Knight mountain. I say, so what? That Dark Knight mountain at present is more interesting than Smith at the moment. Therefor I'm more interested in what Bale will do and would happily invest in him over Smith (in my world where I'm a producer).

Graeme: I say he's not as POWERFUL. There's a difference, it's not about talent or "good". Smith still has the draw and the clout and the history. Plus, producer power.

Meredith: I guess I just prefer talent.

Graeme: He can get movies greenlit based on his name alone. Bale can't.

Meredith: I think that right now Bale can, honestly.

Graeme: I would seriously, seriously, doubt that.

Meredith: He just needs to see if that interests him. Right now he's too concerned with being the best actor in the world.

Graeme: Oh my God. Did you really just say that?

Meredith: Ha ha ha

Graeme: Next week: "Christian Bale is so dreamy and talented, by Meredith Woerner, AKA The Future Mrs. Bale."

Meredith: Well, when was the last time that Smith got offered a super meaty kick ass role?

Graeme: Seven Pounds?

Meredith: Excuse me what?

Graeme: The Pursuit of Happyness? Ali?

Meredith: Excuse me what?

Graeme: Oh, come on. Now you're just being an ass.

Meredith: Ali was 7 years ago.

Graeme: Pursuit of Happyness was two. Seven Pounds is not even out yet, is it?

Meredith: POH was so awful

Graeme: He was Oscar nommed for it, wasn't he? He was decent, despite the sappiness.

Meredith: It was just like TDTESS in my eyes. "And now we'll place the little kid over the grave of his father and have him cry. Because this is a sad moment, people."

Graeme: For comparison, what's your definition of Bale getting a meaty role?

Meredith: Batman, John Connor, a role next to Johnny Depp.

Graeme: Wait, so it's not about a role that requires acting chops, just a high profile one?

Meredith: Well, both really. No I think a meaty role is something that sticks with you after you view it, for a very long time.

Graeme: Because, seriously, John Connor?!?

Meredith: Actually playing John Connor in a realistic end of the world future takes chops, especially when they rip off his skin.

Graeme: Also, he fucking sleepwalked through Dark Knight!

Meredith: LIAR. What about that moment when he was sitting on the couch and crying, that was deep.

Graeme: You're saying this about Terminator sight unseen - YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YET! He could be terrible as John Connor!

Meredith: But he won't be.

Graeme: Your argument is "He's great because he'll be great." Using that logic, Will Smith is awesome because of this film he'll star in that he's not even seen the script for yet. But he WILL BE! (I don't even like Will Smith that much, how did I end up in this role?)

Meredith: No, he really won me over in The Machinist, American Psycho, roles which Smith could never dream to pull off. Roles that have been building his power surge over hollywood canned laughter.

Graeme: American Psycho is how old, Ms. "Ali was seven years ago"?

Meredith: Bale is a crazy person when it comes to acting. The guy gives his all. It's never weird to see him break down, I loved him in 3:10 to Yuma as well. As cheesy as that movie was, he was great in it. I'm never put off to see Bale cry, I guess, but Smith is too cheesebally no matter how realistic it is. It's always like, "Ugh, move forward and get to the punchline already. You're making me uncomfortable."

Graeme: So, it's not about who's more powerful, you're just arguing on personal taste.

Meredith: No, I'm answering your question about how do you know he will be good as JC. Because the man can pull it of because he can make a world of evil robots come to life and believable.

Graeme: But that's not a real answer. My point was, you can't say "He's great in this" when you haven't seen it, and replying that he will be because he always is and I love him and and and doesn't really prove anything.

Meredith: No, you're trying to tell me Bale won't be a great John Connor which I think is silly to say he won't. You're arguing just to argue. Plus I told you why I thought he was more powerful earlier.

Graeme: No, I'm saying, you don't know one way or another.

Meredith: But I do know, G. I do.

Graeme: Oh, I give up. Dreaminess wins over logic. Which is almost comforting.

Meredith: No, you're trying to argue logic to optimism, and I'm not going to give up my hope for Terminator.

Graeme: You're like a child waiting for Christmas!

Meredith: Terminator is my baby blanket. You guys all have your comics and books. I had big silver robots as a kid. That was my door in.

Graeme: That explains your inflatable Arnold doll.

Meredith: Seriously, I lurved Terminator and I was really scared when I saw McG was on Salvation. But after the panel at Comic-Con, it was clear that they weren't just trying to make a good movie. They were passionate about not fucking it up. Literally they said that a million times. This gritty future is incredibly exciting and I for one am staying optimistic, heck I don't even mind that it's not in a blue tint, like all the past Terminator futures. They're trying to add something of value to the franchise not just, hey let's see what a lady terminator looks like. Anyway, this was a good argument but we can't post it on the site.

Graeme: Why not?

Meredith: Because clearly WS is more powerful than Bale.

Graeme: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I WIN!

Meredith: I concede.

Graeme: And that's how I'm totally going to end the post.

Meredith: Damn it, you made me spit vitamin water all over.

Graeme: No, wait, that's a better last line.

1. J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof. These four guys, between them, pretty much created half the most influential works in the genre right now. On television, Abrams and Lindelof's Lost has shown how to make science fiction into watercooler-talk material. Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman's new show, Fringe, has only been on for a few months but feels like a genre classic already. Abrams is also responsible for the ground-breaking (and camera-shaking) Cloverfield.
Up next: The foursome is responsible for bringing Star Trek back from franchise purgatory. And Orci and Kurtzman have co-written Transformers 2.

2. Will Smith, star of I Am Legend and Hancock. It's hard to think of an actor who can make a project into a hit more easily than Smith, right now. Just imagine Hancock without Smith's legendary affability behind it, and you've got a mighty dud.
Up next: Sequels/prequels to both Hancock and Legend are being bandied about.

3. Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. He championed the idea of giving indie director Chris Nolan the reigns of the Batman films. He's been a key figure in getting movies like Watchmen on the screen. (And he killed the Wonder Woman movie, reportedly because he doesn't think women can carry action movies. But this is the "power list," not the "people we agree with" list.)
Up next: He's in charge of the umpteenth big-screen reinvention of Superman.

4. James Cameron, director of Avatar. Cameron's 3-D space epic won't be out for another year, but it's already revolutionizing the way people think about movies. He's pioneered a whole new system of 3-D cameras, but also created new motion-capture techniques for his alien creatures. Even before the film comes out, everybody else is already playing catch-up. Meanwhile, Cameron discovered Sam Worthington, who stars in Avatar, and pimped him out as one of the leads in Terminator 4.
Up next: Avatar comes out next December.

5. Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios. Warner Bros. may have cornered the market on superheroes-as-serious-dramas, but Marvel owns the idea of a superhero movie universe, complete with crossovers and fan-friendly in-jokes. Between them, Iron Man and Incredible Hulk proved that the superhero punch-'em-up films can feel like pieces of a saga... and make tons of money.
Up next: Another Iron Man, plus Captain America, Avengers, Thor, Ant-Man...

6. Kanye West, rapper/singer. He helped bring a science fiction motif back to music with his Daft Punk collaborations and space-odyssey stage show. He's the reason for Beyonce's cyborg hand.
Up next: His new album, "808s and Heartbreaks," uses an "Autotune" to make his vocals sound more computery and spacey, and it's already the #1 record in the United States.

7. Christopher Nolan, director of The Dark Knight and The Prestige. The Dark Knight was the biggest movie of 2008, but it also showed that grotesque characters and people in funny costumes could be compelling and visceral.
Up next: Nobody knows. Hopefully, another Batman film, but maybe first another mindblowing non-franchise pic like Prestige.

8. Neal Stephenson, author of Anathem. We knew Stephenson's next book would be a hit, thanks to his huge following. But Anathem, with its story of a world where science and technology are separated and pure scientists live in "Maths," captured the imagination of mainstream critics. Suddenly, novels of ideas are cool again.
Up next: Nobody knows. Unless you do?

9. Andrew Stanton, director of Wall-E. Even before his lonely robot movie came out, it had already sparked a whole giant wave of science fiction animated movies. (It looks like exactly one of those movies, Monsters Vs. Aliens, will be good.) People are arguing over what was the best movie of 2008: Wall-E or Dark Knight.
Up next: He's supposed to be directing a live-action movie of John Carter of Mars.

10. Stephenie Meyer, author of Twilight and The Host. I'll be honest: I haven't read any of the Twilight books, or seen the movie. They don't sound like my cup of tea. But the Twilight movie was a huge success, one of the biggest book adaptations in ages. And Meyer's adult science fiction novel, The Host, was surprisingly good: the story of a love triangle between a woman, a man, and the symbiote that is trying to control the woman's body. The Host has been on the Times bestseller list for 29 weeks, outselling pretty much any other recent science fiction book by many orders of magnitude. I would happily go see a Host movie.
Up next: Probably more Twilight books, despite Meyer's vow to stop writing them. The Host also seems to be leading towards a sequel.

11. Guillermo Del Toro, director of Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy 2. He's managed to bridge the gap between arthouse darling and mainstream monster-movie maker in a way almost nobody has done before. No wonder he's been tapped to take on the Hobbit movies.
Up next: Besides Hobbit, GDT is attached to 500 other movies, including Frankenstein, Jekyll, The Champions, Hellboy 3, etc. etc.

12. Bioware, maker of Mass Effect and Star Wars: Knights OF The Old Republic. With Mass Effect, BioWare helped recharge the genre of space-opera RPG, following the adventures of Commander Shepard, who encounters aliens and murderous artificial intelligences. This came on the heels of success of past games like Jade Empire and Star Wars: KTOR.
Up next: A new MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic comes out next year.

13. Donna Langley, President of Production at Universal Pictures. When she was an independent producer, she produced The Cell, Austin Powers 2 and other science fiction films. And after she joined Universal, she shepherded Children Of Men to the screen, and she's worked hard to nail Del Toro down to make four movies for Universal, including Frankenstein — and she's been pushing the idea of a Hellboy TV series.
Up next: Her upcoming projects include Army Of Two, a scifi video-game movie.

14. Michael Chabon, author of The Yiddish Policemen's Union. Not only did his literary work of alternate history win Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards, but the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay has championed the literary worth of science fiction with his book Maps And Legends and his two anthologies of science fiction by literary authors.
Up next: Supposedly the Coen Brothers are filming Yiddish.

15. Brian Michael Bendis and Joe Quesada, Marvel Comics. It's been obvious for a while now that the competition between Marvel and DC was a lop-sided one, but maybe 2008 is the year we call it a victory once and for all. Bendis, as writer, have been responsible for series like House of M, Secret Invasion, and New Avengers. And Quesada has helped make other series, like Civil War, into sales juggernauts. DC might have Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns and Neil Gaiman writing for it, but Marvel has the readership.
Up next: Yet another big status-quo-massaging event, Dark Reign.

16. Jennifer Jackson, agent with Donald Maass and Associates. Her name comes up more often than any other agent's, when you're talking book deals. And she's the top dealmaker of 2008, according to Publisher's Marketplace, with a dozen high-profile deals in the past year. Her clients include hot writers like Elizabeth Bear, Ken Scholes, Jay Lake and Mary Robinette Kowal.
Up next: She just sold Amanda Downum's The Drowned City to Orbit Books, in a three-book deal.

17. Will Wright, Spore creator. Wright's The Sims is the best selling computer game in history, and other titles like SimCity also remain huge and groundbreaking. But his build-a-lifeform game, Spore, has sparked new levels of creativity — and debate over whether it accurately reflects evolution.
Up next: We're not sure.

18. Brian Goldner, Hasbro CEO. Who could have imagined the toy tie-in movie would become a huge force in Hollywood again? Goldner, that's who. He helped make Transformers and G.I. Joe into summer blockbuster material.
Up next: More toy movies. Says the man himself: "If you remember Stretch Armstrong, there's an opportunity to tell this great backstory of who Stretch Armstrong is, and why he's so incredible and yet funny."

19. Jeff Walker, the independent movie publicist who brought Hollywood to Comic-Con. Hard as it is to believe, Comic-Con was once a comic convention. And now it's the place where Hollywood studios unveil their latest projects and shimmy for the approval of tens of thousands of die-hard fans. Walker helped engineer that transformation.
Up next: Comic-Con keeps getting huger and more unmanageable. Are the studios going to start skipping it, like Paramount did this year?

20. Weta Workshop. The New Zealand practical effects studio came to prominence working on Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings movies, and now it's the go-to place for science fiction epics, including The Day The Earth Stood Still, Fantastic 4: Rise Of The Silver Surfer, X-Men 3, I, Robot and many others, along with its sister company Weta Digital.
Up next: Weta was supposedly hard at work on Justice League, but no longer. Still on the slate are a mooted Halo film, Avatar, Tintin and the Hobbit films.

We sat down and broke apart every little detail from the new trailer that we think is worth pointing out, including Kyle Reese's mannerisms, details on the love life between John Connor and his wife... and who may be still standing at the end. Plenty of screencaps, and spoilers, below.

Up top you've got the one and only John Connor, ladies and gentlemen: he lands his helicopter on the Terminator then shoots it in the head, just to be sure, multi-tasking is tricky, and what is that head piece? Hello Stargate.

Baby Kyle Reese is played by the adorable Anton Yelchin — and it appears he already has the Michael Biehn toothy smile down pat.

In the future, everyone drives jeeps or trucks that look like they belong in the Road Warrior, and all is as it should be.

Amazing zooming moto-terminators with what looks like a couple of side arms and the terminator red-eye problem. Check out the harvester in the background — bring it!

Looks like the humans have been forced to live underground again, with Common.

Holy hell, those are some awesome Terminators. What's with the doohickies above their heads? Can they fly? They can fly, can't they? I mean, we know that the big ones can fly, but personal flying Terminators would be amazingtastic. UPDATE: All right, maybe it is a factory.

One muddy man, who I'm assuming is Sam Worthington's character Marcus after he escaped the evil Terminator labs, I mean Bale is big, but I don't know if he's that big.

Look at all the face scars on tied-up Marcus, John Connor doesn't trust him... nor should he!

Speaking of the evil Terminator labs, it looks like the humans are getting crushed in a giant trash compactor.

With Spikes!

Check this out: someone who is presumably naked just beat the hell out of a Terminator, and is about to use the arm gun to bust his naked ass out, I'm assuming this is all part of Marcus' great escape. Update: tsunamitomi made a good point that this could also be a portal or a time travel, so feasts your minds on that.

The freeing of the humans. This is a little Oz "Brand New Day" for me.

Connor snuggles a little too close to a Terminator face.

Lovers running! Moon Bloodgood playing Blair Williams runs with her alleged lover Marcus, but why is she smiling? Bad acting, or does she know something we don't?

Wheelies! If there is a god, this is Bale.

Ack, Connor is hurt. Quick, Common and Marcus — carry him to his wife before something bad happens.

Oh crap something bad happened, slo mo screaming is never a good sign. But I will say, Bryce Dallas Howard is looking like one hot Mrs. Connor.

Oh, and SHE'S PREGNANT. What?

What is this place? A secret lab for turning people into robots, possibly? Hey, it's been suggested. And who's that guy? Are there still humans working for the Terminators?

Hydro bot wrasslin'.

Please tell me who this is. Is it John or is it Marcus? Because one of them is clearly dead, by the looks of it.

More Harvester action.

Terminator: Salvation will be released in theaters on May 22, 2009.

[via Slashfilm]

The Christian Bale fansite has some screencaps from this new footage over at the link. [Christian Bale Fans]

The contrast between the T4 and Trek footage was pretty apparent to the assembled journos. Terminator 4 is going to be a gritty world of killer robots and embattled resistance fighters hiding like rats underground. Trek, meanwhile, is shiny and optimistic.

Another contrast: J.J. was a bit brash, making a point of mentioning at every screening that he's never been a fan of Star Trek. McG, meanwhile, went out of his way to be humble, admitting he has a silly name and that Christian Bale told him to fuck off when he first asked him to be in Terminator 4. (Bale changed his mind when McG convinced him it could be a serious drama as well as an action movie.) Also, McG addressed the ongoing James Cameron controversy, saying Cameron didn't give the film his blessing, but "didn't shit all over it either."

In fact, McG admitted he didn't think the world needed another Terminator movie, until Nolan came up with the idea of making it a Batman Begins-style origin story of John Connor, who becomes the hero he's supposed to be. McG also compared his new movie to the Daniel Craig James Bond films, which reinvented the character.

So, about the new footage. First, McG showed the featurette about the special-effects work of Martin Laing that we posted a while back. Then, he brought up special effects supervisor John Rosengrant to talk about how the film's effects are a mixture of CG and real special effects. The primitive T-600 model will have a "gritty, nasty Soviet look," says Rosengrant. Also, McG wouldn't say whether Arnold Schwarzenegger would find a way to show up in the movie, but did say the T-800 model will have a big role.

Then he finally showed about five to seven minutes of new, unfinished footage, which had a Transformers-meets-Matrix vibe. Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) opens his eyes and asks what date it is. Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) replies that it's 2018. Wright asks, "What happened? Judgment day?" And then Wright and Reese are being pursued by a giant Harvester Terminator, which smashes up a gas station in the desert. Then the Harvester chases them across the desert in a sequence full of explosions and "fairly standard Hollywood action."

Meanwhile, there's drama for John Connor, because he tries to step up as leader of the resistance, but there are more experienced military leaders (including one played by Michael Ironside) who don't want to let this young non-soldier take over. Connor discovers that the machines are collecting DNA and stem cells from humans to help create the human-looking T-800, and he warns that if the T-800 comes online this soon, then humanity has already lost the war. Also, there's the scene shown at Comic-Con, where Connor confronts up a chained-up Wright and says Wright killed his mother and his father, but won't kill him.

Crucial dialogue: Connor says, "This isn't the future that my mother told me about." And resistance pilot Blair Williams (Journeyman's Moon Bloodgood) replies, "If you saved us in another future, you can save us in this one."

Besides the John Connor stepping-up storyline, the film is also about where humanity ends and the machines begin, says McG — probably a reference to Marcus Wright, who's apparently a decommissioned Terminator.

McG said the rumored ending of the film, in which John Connor turns out to be a robot or is replaced by a robot, is completely false. Also, Christian Bale says the famous catch phrase, "I'll be back." But the context is 180 degrees reversed from the way it's said in the original. Bale is already signed up for two sequels, and McG and friends already have the next two movies "arced out."

Terminator set pics from VideoETA.
[Channel 4 and Guardian and IGN]

Movie-watchers have been speculating for weeks, since a T4 producer said Arnie wouldn't be in the movie "as a person." It's possible he's going to do voice-over work for the film. But a tipster over at Latino Review claims he'll do more than that: the movie will superimpose a "fully rendered digital face" of Arnold from the first movie over the newly hired T-888 actor, Roland Kickinger. And then have Arnie dub some of Kickinger's dialog. It could be unbelievably clunky, or it could look completely seamless, it's hard to predict. At least Arnie doesn't need to show much range of facial expressions, especially as a Terminator.

Images by Flynet. [Latino Review]

I just love the fact that Batman carries around a giant bag of Bat-snacks. Where does he keep them? Somewhere on his utility belt? Does he keep them to reward Robin after a long day of crime-fighting? Is that the same pouch where he stores his pants after he whips them off in the earlier clip?