<![CDATA[io9: john connor]]> http://tags.lifehacker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png <![CDATA[io9: john connor]]> http://io9.com/tag/johnconnor http://io9.com/tag/johnconnor <![CDATA[How TSCC Would Have Continued]]> Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles may be dead and gone, but that doesn't stop fans wondering just what would've happened following the second season cliffhanger. Thankfully, former executive producer James Middleton is here to hint at the answer.

Talking to SciFi Wire about how the writers had planned to follow up on John Connor's surprise leap into the future at the end of the final episode of the season, he said,

[I]n the actual footage of the show, we see that Derek doesn't recognize [John.] So, by jumping into this future, he has erased his existence in a certain way, and we see that. We see that nobody recognizes him... If we had gotten a third season, I should say, we definitely would have explored what it all meant, but I think there's a great moment where we see Allison [Summer Glau], and John's look to her is very meaningful. I think that also would have been a great thing in terms of dramatic potential. Like I said, the show has ended, and it would all be speculation, and I really don't want to raise anybody's expectations.

Sure, tell us that something would've been a "great thing in terms of dramatic potential," and then tell us that you don't want to raise expectations? You big tease...

Sarah Connor producer on how the show would have continued [SciFi Wire]

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5288771&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[Terminator 5 Travels In Time And Space?]]> Will the fifth Terminator movie return to the more familiar time traveling formula of the first three, following the disappointment of Terminator Salvation at the box office? A new rumor suggests yes... but with a twist.

Claiming unnamed "industry sources," Bleeding Cool says that the sequel to Salvation will see resistance leader John Connor himself travel back in time to try and stop the robot takeover of the world - but that he'll be abandoning America to come back to 2011 London. Quite why London would be chosen as the new battleground - in plot or production senses - isn't immediately clear, but the site claim that Christian Bale will again play Connor in this potential return to form. We're skeptical, but willing to be convinced.

Terminator 5 Comes To London [Bleeding Cool]

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5281504&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[John Connor Was Originally A Terminator 4 Supporting Character]]> According to Christian Bale, his Terminator Salvation role originally only had him on set for one short week. Bale shared how he fleshed out John Connor's storyline. Also, the studio released 59 stunning Terminator pics.


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:

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5248232&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[3 New Terminator Spots Start Showing Off The Robo Baddies]]> Some new Terminator Salvation TV spots show some shiny metal goodness, along with some more action sequences, for those starving for John Connor-on-robot violence.



Help me out here: right around 00.26 in this trailer, who is he yelling at?

Terminator Salvation will by out on May 21.

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5199885&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[Terminator: Salvation Won't End The Way You Expect]]> If you think you've already been spoiled for the ending of this summer's Terminator: Salvation, think again; apparently, the ending leaked on the internet has been scrapped in favor of something much more secret. Spoilers?

Moviehole is reporting that the ending leaked by CHUD and Ain't It Cool last year - that the "real" John Connor dies before the end of the movie and is replaced by Marcus, a "good" Terminator who realizes the importance of JC as a figurehead for the resistance - has been entirely dumped by Warners as a result of the leak, and that the new ending is... well, better:

The third act of the film has been completely changed "because of the internet leak. The ending doesn't resemble the previous one in any shape or form". And more so, the new ending has tested quite well; it's gotten a much better reaction than the 'big reveal' in the script did. [Apparently, Warners] were as red as Daredevil about the ending being spoilt online and had begun to rewrite the script. And that's exactly what they did. Its now, according to our friend on the inside, "A complete [180] from the original film. Works better. Probably not as hard to swallow. Real good though".

So far, no spoilers about this new ending have surfaced, but that doesn't mean that we can't begin to speculate wildly. What would constitute "a complete 180" from the original? Marcus dying? John Connor having been a Terminator all along? All of the Terminators being John Connor in some weird way? Feel free to add your own guesses below.

Terminator's Salvation [Moviehole]

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5179353&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[New Terminator Stills Show John Connor's Big Robot-Killin' Guns]]> The new Terminator has John Connor all suited up, complete with robo-killing gun and ear piece. Entertainment Weekly has a slew of new photos from Terminator, Wolverine, Land Of The Lost, Watchmen and Harry Potter.

John Connor definitely has the look. It should be interesting to see how director McG explains how the revolutionary leader came up through the ranks in Terminator Salvation. I wonder how our future-wasteland dwellers manage to stock up on weaponry and military tools. Also, fingers crossed for some excellent use of fire power.

Popeater also has a close look at the big hulking T-600. (Bigger pic at the link.)

Wolverine does not want to take a bath. According to Entertainment Weekly, it wasn't always Wolverine that was going to get the first origins story. Producer Lauren Shuler Donner explains that "It wasn't always part of the plan, but Hugh brought that character to vivid life." Oh right, like they were going to make the Cyclops movie, after the way they treated him in the X-Men movies.

Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley cuddle up for a special moment, in this summers' Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince.

Will Ferrell tells Entertainment Weekly that the the dinosaurs in Land Of The Lost are "scary as sh—.''

And finally there is a shot of The Watchmen's Comedian, a little grayer around the edges and with the second spin on his costumed adventurer look.

[Entertainment Weekly]

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5122021&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[All The Details Behind The Terminator Sets]]> Take a peek inside McG's Terminator factory with a round up of set reports from T4, including out how JC's pretty face is scratched up, and who's getting naked.

News is pouring in from numerous outlets all about the behind the scenes set visit at McG's Terminator: Salvation. We scoured the web and pulled in all the best details like this gorgeous look at the Terminator making factory from LA Times It is gorgeous in a dirty, hopeless nightmare-inducing way. But now onto the details.

First and foremostm MovieWeb points out, in an interview with the director McG that when we meet John Connor, he's still climbing the ladder towards his eventual revolution. Right now he's still taking orders and getting coffee:

You realize he's not the one calling the shots. He came out of the hole three years after the radiation cleared with some other survivors only to hear, 'I've got twenty years in the Marines. Get the fuck in line. I'm not going to hear about your mystic Cleo bullshit. We're at war!' You realize that Connor has to struggle. Through the body of the story, we will see how his fate is achieved.

This is kind of an amazing idea, because I love it when people boss around Christian Bale and then he swoops in and sets them straight. But more than watching him develop into a full fledged savior, I want to see the hell that he lives in, and oh what a hell it is. Collider was particularly impressed with each painstaking detail applied across each set, even in Connor's underground world.

This wasn’t some green screen production. They had tons and tons of practical sets and each one felt lived in and real. One of the highlights was walking around John Connor’s bunker. I examined the books on the bookcase and the batteries carefully arranged. After all, this was the future, and supplies like batteries need to be taken care of.

Now top all that John Connor action, set detail and robot madness with a grown-up, possibly R-rated, movie. There's no dry humping here Terminator Salvation gets down and dirty. This will not be a sissy movie it's got it all from steamy sex scenes to bad boy fights according to Slashfilm:

People haven’t seen anything yet. And for those who believe this film will definitely be PG-13, think again. We saw a piece of footage that showed Moon Bloodgood topless in the rain, which certainly gave me the impression that the rating has yet to be decided.

But what about the leaked ending? Is it changed? CHUD, one of the first sites to report this the deeply controversial ending was scanning each story board and though the final moments of the film wasn't revealed (obviously, somethings need to be kept safe) they detected a hint of the unknown, which is wonderful in these overly spoiled days.

There were some things being hidden from us... or maybe there were some things that were still in flux. It was no secret that Jonathan Nolan was rewriting the script for McG, and some elements - like the highly controversial ending - seemed up in the air.

But probably the most exciting thing I've read thus far is how John Connor got that infamous scar across his face that we all saw in Terminator 2. UGO's got the goods:

And in the middle of everything, there’s Christian Bale, dirtied, decked out in his ragtag soldier-of-the-future garb. Right now he’s on the floor. Pinned down. A puppeteer hovers above him, just out of camera range, working a Stan Winston Terminator arm. The metal fingers claw for Bale’s face, tear down his cheek, giving John Connor that infamous scar. Bale screams. Way method.

I'm now more excited than ever, click on each site to read more details about the different visits and start getting ready for the T4 revolution.

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5107995&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[Can Terminator 4 Top The Liquid Silver T-1000 From T2?]]> There is no doubt that the most important part of any good Terminator movie is that it knocks you off your ass. And it sounds like McG, director of the forthcoming Terminator 4, is starting to feel pressure to beat T2's revolutionary morphing robotics. McG is spilling his guts on his McBlog once again.

Principal photography has wrapped on T4 and they're now deep into post production, which means no more time in the tanks with the aqua bots for Christian Bale. It's gotta be hard to stand next to Terminator 2, but McG and his big dirty bots are giving it a go.

According to McG, both Bale and Sam Worthington have been shown early cuts of the film and they're both happy, still no word on James Cameron's take. But now they're still working on bringing the worlds most amazing effects and Charlie Gibson, the VFX supervisor and second unit director, have a lot on their plate.

We want the patina of the machines to be dirty and heavy and perfectly realistic - that's why we built so much practically with Stan Winston. But at some point the effects kick in and like any Terminator fan, Charlie wants his mind blown. There's one sequence in particular where we're trying to achieve something that's never been done before. I don't want to talk about it because we haven't been successful yet...

But we're working on it.

Well good luck, you'll need it to top T2. If all of these things actually do come through in the end then this could be a very successful addition to the Terminator franchise. Merely getting the audience to respect T4 enough to stand next to T2 is really all this film needs.

And finally it looks likes the revolution that will save humankind starts in Los Angeles:

This film is so much more than just Los Angeles. It reflects the global crisis of man, all of man versus machine.

We'll have to wait and see how McG's big bots do on film. They looked pretty badass at Comic-Con, but still it didn't melt and walk through bars or turn into a checkered floor. Or a urinal.

[Warner Brothers]

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5067482&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[Can Sarah Connor Save Herself, Never Mind The Future?]]> Last week, the ratings were being called "armageddon-like" and worthy of cancellation, and they've only gotten worse since then - this week's episode saw only 5.53 million viewers tuning in, down half a million viewers from a week before, and almost a million from the second season premiere. Is Skynet controlling the Nielsen Ratings, or is the end going to come for Fox's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles sooner than anyone expected?

The series may have been plagued by rumors of cancellation since it started but last week's revelation from Entertainment Weekly about just how true those rumors were may have surprised some:

An SCC insider tells me that if the show's numbers don't start to climb, Fox is unlikely to order any additional episodes beyond the 13 currently in the pipeline. At Saturday's EW pre-Emmy bash, Thomas Dekker remained hopeful that they could hold off doomsday at least until the end of football season. "We¹re up against Monday Night Football," he sighed, "which is tricky because we have a lot of football fans."

With the ratings for this week's fourth episode falling again after the surprise bump for the week before, it's unlikely that the show can afford to wait that long, however - and its home network isn't much consolation to fans with long memories; the schizophrenic Fox network may be happy to launch SF TV (This year alone, it's giving the world Fringe, Dollhouse and new Ron Moore show Virtuality), but equally trigger-happy on the cancellation front (Firefly, anyone?). SyFy Portal is already saying that a decision on cancellation is due as early as this week:

The network has been disappointed by "Sarah Connor's" numbers so far this season, and some executives feel that the show is dragging down numbers for "Prison Break," which airs as a lead-out.

"Audiences just aren't responding to the show," a Fox source tells SyFy Portal. "Our biggest surprise are the 18-to-49s [a key advertising demographic], those numbers are in the toilet."

One of those reasons that that particular demographic isn't responding to the show may be its timeslot - the show is currently up against Chuck - itself having a rocky start this season, viewerwise - Gossip Girl and the unexplainably unbeatable Dancing With The Stars on network television alone. But is it too late to move it somewhere else on the schedule (and if not, where to put it? One suggestion may be Wednesday evenings, currently quiet for genre TV... and Fox does need a replacement for Do Not Disturb, after all).

While fans argue over what would offer the best chance to save the show (Check out the comment section, where good suggestions get lost amongst less constructive comments like "Sarah Connor is a PUSSY" and "who watches Broadcast TV anymore?"), we can only hope that producer Josh Friedman is not only thinking about how to bring some new attention to the series (and hopefully not as bloodthirstily as Charlie) but also keeping an eye on a way to bring the show to some kind of quick conclusion just in case this show becomes an unexpected first SF casualty of a particularly screwy TV season.

(In any case, John Connor actor Thomas Dekker seems to be working on securing a golden parachute for himself already: he's reported to be in talks to star in a new remake of the movie musical Fame. He may not make it to the future to save the world from giant robots, but one way or another, he's gonna live forever.)

Images from David Strick's backstage photos from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles [LA Times]

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5056899&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[New Terminator 4 Trailer Shows Death, Destruction And A Sad John Connor]]> Terminator Salvation blasted into Comic Con with a life size T-600, and director McG. The panelists talked about how the futuristic world will be bleak, burned up and completely free of race and sex stereotypes (the revolution is multiracial and powered by ladies). But more importantly, they debuted a new trailer for T4 which showed more characters, more Terminators, and a fantastic back and forth between Marcus Wright and John Connor. Click through for a gallery of panel pics, and a recap of the trailer. Beware spoilers.

The trailer begins, and John Connor (Christian Bale) is on the radio looking beat as hell. The radio sparks and asks him how many survivors? Connor rasps into the radio quietly, "One". "What?" cracks the radio with indignation, and Connor screams "One!" and gets up and walks away. Around him is a burnt landscape strewn with Terminator remains. Next, we see a tied-up Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), face to face with a pissed-as-hell Connor. He leans in towards Marcus and leers as he says, "If I let you go, you'll kill eveyone in this room... You know me, we've been at war. Before I ever existed." Which pretty much seals the deal that Marcus is a Terminator. Next you hear Marcus asking blindly outside what day and year it is? He's met by a young Kyle Reese who leans in and says, "Judgment Day." And then later he yells out "follow me if you want to live." It's amazing how the new Kyle (Anton Yelchin) has captured many of the original Kyle's ticks, including the toothy grin. Then there are a few Mad Max-esque car and motorcycle chase scenes, with Kyle shooting a huge shot gun. Tanks roll over skulls, and then mammoth robot feet crush more skulls. Marcus appears to be escaping with a young boy from the Skynet human research facilities (where humans are kept in pens). Actress Moon Bloodgood (Journeyman) stands topless in the rain and gives the sexy eye to Marcus (Ooh, love connection). John Connor says, "This is not the future my mother told me about." He sounds depressed, then he yells out, "You tried killing my mother, you killed my father, you will not kill me!" Overall, amazing.

So what else does T4 have in store for us. We know that the film takes place after the bombs have dropped in the year 2018. McG won't say what year the big boom takes place, but did tell us in the panel that they took science into consideration, making sure that enough time would have passed for the air to clear so humans could breathe. Sam Worthington concurred, "we studded what flora and fauna would look like in the future after terrible radiation."

Terminator 4 will be a multicultural rainbow of death. Race, sex and religion matter not to John Connor's human resistance, or at least to T4's director. McG told the fans at the comic con Terminator Salvation panel that there won't be a bunch of, "lilly white people running around running things." Which is why rapper Common is helping to lead the resistance.

Sam Worthington also remarked that you couldn't be a pansy to go toe-to-toe with Christian Bale and McG agreed, "You need an actor who can stand up in a two shot and so many actors, that's not for them. You could see the tension in the clip, where Bale says you tried to kill my mother, you tried to kill my father. I won't let you kill me. I think he stands well against him"

The look of the film will be dirty, McG called it "a greasy, grimy and brutal world that we saw earlier from Cameron in Aliens." He also later revealed in round tables that he wouldn't do the film without Cameron's blessing. But was mum about Arnold being back, as it would spoil the movie (which means yes, and it's already been reported that there will be a younger version of Arnold's terminator).

The director seems to be really taken with the fact that we are all doomed. And stated, "Science fiction is over. We live in a world where we can clone sheep. Be careful when you create life because the life you create may kick you in the ass."

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5029623&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[Exclusive Look Inside Terminator 4 Shows A New Wheel In Town]]> Look at this set photo from Terminator: Salvation. Is this John Connor's new BatPod? Or something more sinister? This is just one of the behind-the-scenes pics io9 just obtained. Click through for more pics, plus speculation about the nature of this wheeled beast. Spoilers ahead.

Call me optimistic but I don't think it's John Connor's motorcycle. Seriously, wouldn't it be outstanding if McG brought back the wheelers?

Upon further inspection, you'll notice that this motorbike looks less like a chopper, and more like a crouching Terminator, complete with the beady red-eyed front. The middle looks like a rib cage, and the back end appears to be robot legs. This image also would connect nicely with the trailer information of John Connor being chased by a wheeled Terminator that was leaked from focus groups.

The other pics show a few storyboards that include big-time ecological problems on Earth, including tidal waves and vast deserts, which seems on par for a nuclear burned land. Also there's a giant flaming helicopter that's downed. You add all of these pictures together and you've got one great post-apocalyptic movie. I especially like that all of the weaponry the humans have (helicopters, possible blimps and boats) are no match for an advanced race of robots.

But according to McG all this robot nonsense is besides the point. In his latest blog entry McG took the time to explain that the story will come first in this Terminator film (and everyone who watched T3 thanks him).

Every morning and every night Christian and I work on the story. Sam's contribution has been excellent. We are committed to putting the story and character first and then supplementing that with action and visual effects. It is our intention to make a film on a large scale with the nuance and subtext of a high quality independent picture.

McG also spilled that his T4 will look much more different:

Basically we are adding three times as much silver. It creates a surreal texture that is in keeping with the notion of the entire picture - feeling detached from the world we know today.

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5027584&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[First Look At Terminator 4's Underwater Kill-Bots]]> The teaser trailer for Terminator 4 is out, and John Connor is still looking grim. The smokin', shaven-headed Christian Bale uses his sexy Batman voice to tell us we're all going to die. Add some shots of robots stepping on skulls and dangling bodies, and I'm pretty sold. I hate to let a well-edited trailer get to me, but man, this movie looks bad ass. It also features our first look at the Terminator aqua bots.

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5025958&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[John Connor's Trophy Room]]> This is exactly how I picture the den of John Connor, savior of the human race: full of baby Terminator heads. This digital masterpiece titled "Wake Up" by internet artist Canis Loopus was found on Deviant Art, a network of budding scifi-minded artists. Click through to see more of Loopus' awesome work.

[Deviant Art]

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5016858&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[Leaked Terminator 4 Ending Is False, Says Director]]> That rumor we posted earlier today? About what happens to John Connor in Terminator 4? It's totally not true, says director McG in a new entry on his production blog. "By the way, there are only three people who know the ending," he says. And then he tries to change the subject with some info on the cyborgs that will, really and truly, be making Connor's life miserable in the new movie. Details after the jump.

McG describes the new robot attackers in the post Judgment Day world as:

Hydrobots that patrol the water, Transports that move human prisoners around, Harvesters that collect human beings as lab rats for Skynet and Aerostats that survey all that is going on with the resistance the world over.

The T-600 is a bigger nastier version of the T-800 that packs a mini gun with a big kick to it. McG explains that the T-600s are "eight-foot tall killers that prowl the badlands looking for anything with a heartbeat to terminate."

Sounds amazing, McG. The more bots the better. Especially ones that run freaky tests on helpless humans. But unfortunately, the notion of human test-subjects only seem to reinforce the idea that the character Marcus is a endo-Terminator (part man part Terminator) who eventually becomes John Connor. [One Possible Future]

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5012832&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[Everything John Connor Knows About The Future Is Wrong, In Terminator 4]]> Terminator 4 could be a lot more unpredictable than we'd expected, judging from a Warner Bros. press release that reveals a bunch of new plot twists and turns. Meanwhile, the movie has cast John Connor's wife Kate: it's Charlotte Gainsbourg (21 Grams.) This character, originally portrayed by Clarie Danes in T3 , sent the Terminator back in time to help them both after John was killed in their messy future. Another young actor named Jadagrace will be portraying Star. Plot details (and spoilers, of course) after the jump.


The future turns out to be different than the one John Connor was raised to believe in — and one factor behind the change in the time line is the appearance of a new character, Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington). In one version of the movie's script, Marcus has a much larger role than John Connor. Marcus appears in the future with no memory and no friends, and his last memory is of being on death row. Connor has to figure out where Marcus is from: the future or the past? The two of them team up to set out on a final mission to completely destroy Skynet but they discover a terrible secret behind the possible destruction of the entire human race.

Right now principal photography is taking place in Albuquerque Studios and on location throughout New Mexico.

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=392909&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[Terminator 4 Will Be Like The Matrix Sequels]]> Like the Matrix sequels, Terminator 4 will leave behind the original movie's weird mixture of present-day action with futuristic intrigue. Instead, it'll be set entirely in the land of machines, designer Miles Teves said in an interview with Fanboy Confidential. But the Terminators in the new movie will be older versions (because these are among the first Terminators). There was also brief discussion of a new type of endo-skeleton super-Terminator. Teves promises, "a lot of tanks and vehicles [and] weird machines." Interview highlights below the jump.



On Christian Bale Playing Second Fiddle to Sam Worthington

"It's very different. It will probably be the most different film of the [movies]. When I left the script was in a complete state of flux. It's very different from the first three films because the first three are essentially these hard driving chase films where you've this unstoppable force pursuing the hero....I can't give away the plot..but this is dramatically different in its structure and its characters. It's sort of the John Connor story, but strangely enough John Connor was not the main character. There is another guy who is the main protagonist of the film."

Terminator3-03.jpg

On Creating Antique Terminators

"I did a lot of work on the new sort of Terminator... I can't describe without being in breach of contract... But there is a new endo-skeleton-type super Terminator that in a way is actually cruder than any of the ones from any of the other films. This one actually takes place before all the other films in a weird way. So everything in the film is actually supposed to be cruder technology than we see even in the first Terminator film. But we know how that works. Have you seen the design for the Enterprise in new J.J. Abrams' film? They do the same god damn thing every time. They go more futuristic when they are supposed to go more retro. And I don't know what to expect from T4. But there will be lots of hardware and cool toys to be sold.

[Fanboy Confidential via http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/05/15/new-terminators-look-retro-in-terminator-4/]]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=391084&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[Which Will Suck Less? New Terminator TV Show or New Terminator Movie?]]> Which version of Terminator has you jazzed? The TV show starting in a few weeks, with Firefly's Summer Glau as a sassy protector bot? Or the 2009 movie starring Christian Bale (unless he comes to his senses)? Vote below!



Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=339609&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[Please Terminate Terminator 4 Now]]> The plot details for Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins (or T4 if you're into the whole brevity thing) have been leaking like a torn artery all over the web today, and reading about it is like watching a horrendous car wreck happening in extreme slow motion. In fact, since Christian Bale is involved, it's like watching a Maserati crash into a Yugo. Check out our breakdown of the details after the jump, and begin humming a funeral dirge for this doomed relaunch of the Terminator series.

  • It's planned as a trilogy, which means if the first movie sucks, it'll kill the rest of them and leave you with a cliffhanger. Of course, if it performs even halfway decent at the box office, they'll rush into the next two with gonzo effects, more explosions, and zero storyline.
  • John Connor isn't the main character. In fact, it's not a Connor at all, it's a guy named Marcus who was someone taken out of the picture before "Judgement Day," and wakes up 15 years before the laser blasts and flying Hunter Killers that we see in at the beginning of Terminator 2. Apparently John Connor is around in this future, but plays a very minor role in the film. What this means is that you've got the fourth film in a series, in which John Connor is set up in each film to be the end-all, be-all salvation for all mankind, and he's not even in the movie. Neither is his kick-butt mom, Sarah Connor, who now has her own Fox TV series to deal with.
  • The T-600s that were talked about in T2 make an appearance. Those are the Terminators with rubber skin, which sounds a bit erotic to us. Can they try and explain why the T-800s all look like Arnold Schwarzenegger and speak with an Austrian accent? Probably not. Plus, can they explain while you have to be nude to time-travel, but there's no problem sending a fully-functional robot covered in human skin back through the ages? Just encase a nuclear bomb in human skin and send it back to Los Angeles when John Connor was a kid. He'd be a goner,
  • Marcus gets a butt-kicking female buddy named Blair in the first film, and she plays a pilot for the humans. So you've got Marcus and Blair fighting robots, basically. Which sounds like a bad Fox reality show that could actually become a reality if this strike keeps dragging on. While it's not clear exactly what she'll be doing, we imagine they're going to toss in a romance between Blair and Marcus. They'll hate each other at first, and then end up getting naked in a bunker together while bullets whiz by overhead.
  • John Connor's daddy Reese shows up in this film, and he and John are buddies. Can you imagine having a friend your age who is actually your dad? It might be fun for awhile, but it would sure put a damper on the "so what hot chicks have you banged?" discussion. Plus, not that we don't love Michael Biehn as an actor, but he's way too old to play Reese at that age now.
  • We find out that the robots have human brains in their metal heads. Now, this could ostensibly be cool, although we're at our wit's end trying to figure out how SkyNet, a sentient computer program created by the military, could possibly get a human brain into a robot body. Unless it gets a sympathetic and wacky mad scientist to start helping out, then it just couldn't work. Whoops, looks like we just spoiled the entire plot.
To recap everything, we've got another Terminator movie in the works, without any of the things that made the original two films so much fun. A killer robot sent back in time to killer the mother of the savior of the human race? Sign us up! However, when you start getting into that future this story just doesn't hold up. That is unless John Connor stumbles into a warehouse filled with hundreds of Schwarzenegger-model T-100s in storage. However, the way this thing sounds so far, it would be the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal movie. We have higher hopes for Fox's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles than this thing.


The Future Begins Here
[CHUD]

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=335891&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[One-Breasted Man-Killers Get An Origin Story]]> y-last-man-07.jpg
  • We'll learn the origins of those one-breasted psycho killers, the Daughters of the Amazon, in the movie version of Y: The Last Man movie. [Comics 2 Film]
  • Steven Spielberg's Interstellar, about explorers who travel through a wormhole to another dimension, will come out in 2009 and won't violate any laws of physics. [Not Even Wrong]

Deadlier spoilers for Sarah Connor Chronicles and Smallville follow, so be warned...



  • Terminator incest alert! Summer Glau's Terminator in the Sarah Connor Chronicles will impersonate John Connor's sister, but may also kindle a romance with him. [Spoiler TV]
  • The Justice League movie may have the dumb-ass title American Heroes. [Cinematical]
  • Next summer's Hancock is about an alcoholic superhero, not just a has-been superhero. [MoviesOnline]
  • Jane Seymour will return to Smallville in the final episode, in a flashback that explains why her character was such a bitch. [TV Guide]
  • Next week's Journeyman will feature "major ripples" in Dan's private life, and move the show towards a "soft ending" in two weeks. The show still isn't officially canceled, but it has been shut down. [BuddyTV]

]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=332671&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[There's Still Time For Christian Bale To Escape Terminator 4]]>

  • Christian Bale hasn't committed to starring in the new Terminator movie, but he is in serious talks, sources say. Here's hoping he comes to his senses and does a smarter film instead. [MSN via Cinemblend]
  • Heroes is one of the most family-friendly shows on television, according to the Family Friendly Programming Forum. Heroes took home the drama award in the Forum's annual awards night. Have these people been watching the same show as I have? The whole second season has been one big creepiest-dad contest. [Hollywood Reporter]

News of the Bionic Woman's love life and Journeyman closure, below the fold:
  • Bionic Woman star Michelle Ryan is dating Owen Wilson, who's still recovering from that suicide attempt a while back. They've gone to dinner and the beach. She entertains him by delivering her famous "you don't own my body" speech. [Hollyscoop]
  • Don't count Journeyman out yet, insists creator Kevin Falls. NBC has decided to air the final three episodes that Falls already filmed, in mid-December. We'll get some answers to our nagging questions, like: WTF is up with all the cross-temporal stalking anyway? And there's still a slim hope that the show could come back at some point after that. "Don't rest yet," he urges fans. But if Journeyman does die for good, Falls has only his own defeatist talk to blame. [AICN]
]]>
http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=327796&view=rss&microfeed=true