Terminator Salvation McG

The Odds Terminator 4 Will Suck Greatly Reduced

A Plethora of Pretty / Dustin Rowles

Trade News | February 2, 2009 | Comments (32)

Pajiba’s Queen Geek, twig, pointed me toward a pretty fascinating write-up that Wired magazine is running on Terminator: Salvation, which shows quite a bit of concept art (some of which I’m pilfering and pasting below, but you really should check out the full article). As twig said, the article and pics almost has her sold on the idea of a T4, despite her earlier protestations. I feel similarly and was encouraged by two quotes on the piece from McG, one a self-deprecating bit of humor that won me over slightly toward McG, and another on how he got Bale involved:

“Nobody heard ‘Terminator 4’ and said, ‘Oh that’s a great idea — I know, let’s get McG to do it!” said McG when he rolled clips from his upcoming movie in Los Angeles earlier this month. “This asshole who did Charlie’s Angels, and what kind of cock calls himself McG?’”

He still doesn’t answer his own question: What kind of cock does call himself McG? But I appreciate the self-awareness. And here’s that other quote:

“I met Bale at a pub in England while he was shooting Dark Knight,” McG said. “He said, “I’m not interested in action, I’m not interested in pyrotechnics, I’m interested in story. If you can get the script to a place where actors on stage could just read it, naked, and it would be compelling for two hours because the characters change and evolve, then we’d have something to talk about.” We had a respectful conversation, I gave him Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? to read but his answer was: “Until it’s on the page, I’m not doing it.” “I went to Jonah Nolan, who co-wrote The Dark Knight,” said McG, “and A) has a good dynamic with Christian, and B) he’s a very intelligent guy who puts story and character at the forefront. So after Jonah worked on the script, we got Christian on board.”

Could there be hope? Here’s that Terminator Salvation trailer again (and below it, the concept art):

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Comments

If it's got Bale, I'll be there. The rest is irrelevant.

Posted by: Snath at February 2, 2009 5:00 PM

As much as that sounds cool, what probably happened is they lost what got Bale interested in the movie in editing and what will play is a 2 hour pyrotechnics-fest that you would expect from the cock who directed Charlie's Angels.

Keeping my expectations very low is what keeps me sane.

Posted by: Jim at February 2, 2009 5:01 PM

Useful tip:

If you're at all keen to avoid spoilers -- which aren't really spoilers, but still -- try not to read the tete-a-tete between the commenters at the bottom of the Wired article.

Posted by: Squrrox at February 2, 2009 5:06 PM

"he's a very intelligent guy who puts story and character at the forefront."

If Christian's so smart, why they eff did he do such a turdulent Batman voice?

Posted by: Erik at February 2, 2009 5:08 PM

It seems that Christian's staying on top of quality control:
http://dlisted.com/node/30494

Posted by: Jay at February 2, 2009 5:14 PM

Nothing I saw looked like cheese. In fact it looked completely brutal. Bale is all I need to know.

Posted by: Protoguy at February 2, 2009 5:16 PM

I really like him but did anyone else hear that sound clip of Christian Bale freaking out screaming at some sound guy on set that walked through his scene? I literally just heard it and it's insane. Mostly disappointing... I mean, if someone wrecked my powerpoint or something, I wouldn't freak out and yell at them for 5 minutes. Then again, my powerpoints don't make me millions of dollars. *shrug*. The thing I like about really good actors is that I forget who they are when they are performing. I'm worried that now I'm going to hear Bale's freaky temper tantrum from now on.

Posted by: bostonadrianne at February 2, 2009 5:18 PM

Oh. Hi Jay.

Posted by: bostonadrianne at February 2, 2009 5:20 PM

"If you can get the script to a place where actors on stage could just read it, naked, and it would be compelling for two hours ..."

Why, oh WHY isn't anyone in Hollywood working on this yet?

Posted by: jason at February 2, 2009 5:25 PM

Sweet! Another Christian Bale movie with a sweet crazy newfangled motorcycle!

Posted by: owl at February 2, 2009 5:31 PM

I thought this was all about the bale assholic rant on set that came out today, I think I'm rethinking my position on the all "douchy bale mum cant fucking call the cops on her son just cause he's yelling at her" I do believe now that the "Bale Yell" can turn people into dust. not that we had any doubts about it.

Posted by: rio at February 2, 2009 6:12 PM

I *just* heard the Christian Bale yelling thing. I don't know how to feel about it, it's very confusing.

I think I'll just go back to picturing him naked.

Posted by: figgy at February 2, 2009 6:24 PM

The Road may prove to be an interesting source of inspiration. If McG (that's a reasonable thing to call yourself) is keeping that in mind, this may turn out pretty well after all.

Posted by: Victor at February 2, 2009 6:27 PM

Christian Bale needs a time-out. He's next in the seat over there in the corner (that is; if little Mikey Phelps thinks he has spent a sufficient amount of time thinking about what HE did.)

Posted by: bostonadrianne at February 2, 2009 6:31 PM

I'm a little bit concerned about the appearance of the motorcycle, actually. They didn't need any newfangled gadgets in The Terminator, besides the T-800. The T-1000 was enough for Terminator 2: Judgement Day when I was 10. Terminator 3: Return of the Subtitle? Not really. John was strapping together wads of plastique with masking tape.

The focus on the, for lack of a better word, stuff seems to be emblematic of the smoke and mirrors that marketers seem to use when the movie itself isn't actually, y'know, very good. Colour me concerned, The Road notwithstanding.

Posted by: Squrrox at February 2, 2009 6:38 PM

Concept art is neat, Squrrox, and correct me if I'm wrong but it may not all make it into the final movie. The art pieces might just be to help envision and create the movie's world - so it's fun to have a look at that journey, and I would think it's useful for the actors, too. Professionals like Christian Bale truly take their craft seriously, so it helps to immerse onesself and really imagine what it's like inside that world. You know, really FEEL how ANGRY you can be living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where you're at WAR with giant Terminators and no one understands HOW FUCKING DISTRACTING it is when AMATEURS who dont GIVE A FUCK ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA are just STROLLING AROUND in the background TRASHING MY SCEN-...

Oh. Hi. *cough*. So that motorcycle looks pretty tough to ride, huh?

Posted by: bostonadrianne at February 2, 2009 7:00 PM

IT ...WILL suck.

And any Pajiban that knows what's good for them will agree.

I have a very particular set of skills....

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at February 2, 2009 7:23 PM

I have a very particular set of skills....

Didn't those skills get you arrested in Tijuana for animal abuse?

The audio clip: I can see both sides of the issue. While Bale did lose his temper and probably shouldn't have screamed at the man like that, the guy should have realized they were filming a scene. It can't be that hard to notice everybody being quiet except the actors, which is why Bale kept asking if he was a professional. The light may not have ruined the shot, but he surely must have. He could have waited and brought it up after the cut. The worst that could have happened....they would have had to shoot the scene again. But at least he would be Bale-Fury-free. Add in the long shoot times and such typical in a big budget production, and tempers are bound to flare.

That said, and this may offend some, that shit is FUNNY. It is the best thing ever. I am this close to making it my ringtone, my life motto, and my God (sorry Godtopus).

Posted by: Vermillion at February 2, 2009 7:35 PM

Re: the Bale-yell: It's easier to withstand if you've got your knees pinned to your ears.

Posted by: MG at February 2, 2009 8:16 PM

Why is it that I think many of the posters here would gladly submit to a vigorous Bale shouting, as long as he was nude...

Posted by: The Kilted Yaksman at February 2, 2009 8:18 PM

This girl? Way more convinced.

Posted by: Sapphiar at February 2, 2009 8:30 PM

Did anyone else think it was funny that he flipped his shit in an American accent (mostly)? He is sooooo method. And dreamy!

Posted by: Cara at February 2, 2009 8:40 PM

Bah. The script and the direction are what will win the day, and those remain to be seen.

And, yeah, I don't care how much money the film is worth. Christian Bale is a grade-A asshole in that audio clip.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at February 2, 2009 8:42 PM

I feel hopeful, Obama's working even in Hollywood!

Posted by: George at February 2, 2009 8:54 PM

Yeah, he's a good actor. He's also a punk-ass little bitch in that audio clip. He's a fucking ACTOR, people. What's the worst he puts up with during a workday? His gofer brings him the wrong cup of coffee? Fucking Jesus. Anything that poor guy fucked up by walking onset, Bale did worse by spending nearly five fucking minutes screaming his sorry ass off.

Combine that with his "read it on stage naked...evolving characters" emo shit, and I'm wondering how fucking pretentious is this guy? It's a goddamn ROBOT movie! It's the fourth film, fifth project, in a franshise that hasn't been good in decades.

Fucking god, he's a tempter tantrum-throwing artiste. A hotter Philip Seymour Hoffman. How depressing.

Posted by: Sara at February 2, 2009 9:01 PM

i would love to slap the shit out of that smug punk-ass,screaming lunatic....maybe the gerbil went too far up!

Posted by: pasadenamike at February 2, 2009 9:02 PM

I also want to point out that this wasn't a one time thing, the DP stepping into shots. As evident from the clip, he did it before, only this time he got hit with an earful of Bale.

Not saying he was right for yelling, just saying it ain't all cut and dried simple.

And also, does anyone find it ironic (or maybe poetic justice) that so many people go "he/she is just an actor" when the person tries to be somewhat reverential on the subject, but turn around and bitch and moan when a favorite is "slumming" in a bad film or some starletard gets a role? Isn't that sort of contradictory?

Either they are supposed to the shit halfway seriously, or they don't. It shouldn't matter if the movie is fucking Shakespeare or not. It isn't a matter of being pretentious, but of just doing the job right. If you don't want someone to take it seriously, then get some wannabe to do it. And the opposite is true: these folks need to get paid, and that means shitty ass roles in shitty ass movies. Acting like they are too good for something is ridiculous.

Posted by: Vermillion at February 2, 2009 9:52 PM

I actually thought the second trailer looked awesome. And I don't really like the Terminator movies.

Posted by: Audiosuede at February 2, 2009 9:58 PM

Wow! Now that's how you break a mother fucker down. I heart Bale.

Posted by: admin at February 3, 2009 9:43 AM

WHY did I listen to that audio clip? Depressing doesn't begin to describe it. I hate it when actors that I like turn out to be douches in real life. I can get that Bale was annoyed, and that this guy needed to be told what he was doing wrong. But fifteen seconds of civilized discussion could have settled all that. "Dude? Could you not walk through my scene when we're filming? I don't rip down your lights." Nothing justifies that rant, which must have been awful for everyone on the set to endure. Talk about unprofessional.

Posted by: DeadBessie at February 3, 2009 10:04 AM

It's not that he shouldn't take his job seriously because he's an actor, it's about perspective. As an actor, if something goes wrong then what's the worst that happens? They reshoot? A little annoying, sure, but not exactly what happens on my job when someone screws up.

Posted by: Sara at February 3, 2009 5:47 PM

Maybe Prisco can back me up on this - but really - it's a live scene from a huge film with a very expensive star, custom set and a widely anticipated final deliverable. I'm guessing there's at least 25 crew on scene at that moment, and about 150 crew in support mode - and getting PAID every second of it. That may be low-balling the numbers by a lot.

Everyone on that set should be steppin' lively and pulling their finest work. Every goddamn minute on a big set costs beaucoup ducats and it is a maddening stop-start-wait, hold those tears while we pin your crotch seam kind of life. If it isn't going well, you are solo under those lights listening to the peanut gallery snickering and pissing and moaning. And the suits checking on their investment. It is honestly a wonder anything good at all gets done. That's why the Meryls are so good - they are so past all that shit and just refuse to see it anymore and so can do their thing. Um...and acting, like good acting, can be really fucking hard. Pretending to run away from an invisible death robot sounds like a lark, but he's gotta put out a millions dollar's worth of credibility emoting to a green screen. (That's a lot of why Episode 1 sucked - who can stay awake in a green room for weeks?)

Oh well. Not like that's all happening in this case or whatever, but if you've seen Patrick Bergen flip out on a straight to DVD flick featuring Kelly Preston and Jennifer Tilly once, you've seen it all.

Posted by: replica at February 3, 2009 10:02 PM

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