The fact that “Terminator: Salvation” is only halfway thru
principal photography and that it’s star, Christian Bale, is in Europe
promoting “The Dark Knight” kept expectations low as far as what footage the fans
could expect to see at Comic-Con.
Still, it was a packed and
eager crowd that greeted director McG, as well as the T-600 model Terminator
that was also onstage. Before he introduced the trailer, he made a phone call
...to Christian Bale! He’s in Europe promoting
TDK and he held up the phone to the screaming crowd, then rolled the clip.
The
clip shows how the future John Connor thinks is going to happen has changed,
and Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) could be the key. Was he sent from the
future, or pulled from the past? If you’ve seen the teaser trailer that’s out
already, the footage reinforces the fact that T4 looks to be a pure war picture
set in the future.
After the footage was shown, McG introduced
the cast members who did make it to Comic-Con ...Common (Barnes), Bryce Dallas
Howard, Moon Bloodgood, Anton Yelchin, and Sam Worthington.
McG
talked about wanting to give the film a dark, gritty look similar to the dystopian
vision of the future we only saw glimpses of in the earlier Terminator films.
McG
agreed that it’s a war picture in a sense. It’s 2018, 11 years before Arnold’s 2029 model. The
film involves the formation of SkyNet and how the war between man and machine
begins.
Worthington
was asked about working with Bale, and described him as “intense. He’s
f&*%in’ Batman! I loved him.” He also said he was perfect for the role
because the movie “isn’t for pansies.”
McG jumped in to say
that statement sums up exactly why Sam was perfect for the part.
“We
needed someone tough, someone who could stand up in a 2-shot with Bale,” McG
said.
McG also said this film will show how John Connor
becomes the legendary leader of the resistance.
As for
whether a certain outdated model T-1000 will appear in the film, McG dodged the
question like a politician on a Sunday morning talk show.
He
did say that fans can expect a lot of hardware worship and that he can’t wait
for fans to see lots of new SkyNet machines, specifically mentioning a few
models like Harvesters and transporters. All are being designed in the Cold War
Soviet style that McG said was a constant reference point for the film’s
design. The dirty, dented steel reflects the world in which they exist.
“It’s
not a pretty future,” McG said. “The machines reflect it.”
Dallas
Howard says the film is about how your free will can affect destiny ..
Worthington added that the film is about the ultimate
destiny of man, and that it doesn’t disregard what James Cameron created with
the first two chapters of the Terminator saga (smart of Worthington to say it, since he’s starring in
Cameron’s next film “Avatar.”)
Someone asked about doing a
fourth Terminator film. McG said he doesn’t think Christopher Nolan thought of
“Batman Begins” as ‘Batman 5’ , and he doesn’t think of ‘Salvation’ as T4.
Yelchin
tipped the cap to Michael Biehn’s performance from the 1984 film when asked how
he approached playing Kyle Reese.
“Biehn is awesome [in that
movie]. The whole thing is to see how he became that way,” Yelchin said.
The
panel took a light-hearted turn when a fan dressed up as Robert Patrick’s machine
in T2 (picture the scene where he has a bunch of shotgun holes) held up a
picture of Edward Furlong in T2 and asked, “Has anyone here seen John Connor?”
Huge
laughs from everyone in Hall H, including the cast.
McG made
two specific salutes to a pair of key figures in the Terminator franchise.
First he thanked producer Gale Anne Hurd, who attended the panel.
He
also said they intend to dedicate the film to the memory of Stan Winston, the
legendary Hollywood special effects master who
recently passed away. Winston created the iconic robotic images in the first
three films.
Stan Winston studios will of course, be working
on “Salvation” as well.
We heard briefly from Bloodstone, who
says her character is involved with Worthington...
Howard,
who plays Kate Connor, says unlike “Spider-Man 3” they’re starting over with
this film. She also acknowledged that everyone involved is very mindful of
trying to live up to the fans’ expectations.
McG also pointed
out that Bryce gets to shoot a shotgun with one hand, ala Linda Hamilton.
Common
is playing a resistance fighter named Barnes. The multi-hyphenated performer
says “he’s grateful to be here and be part of this team.” Common said every
time he sees the trailer, he has trouble believing he’s actually in a
Terminator movie.
As things wound down, the panel became
livelier. McG invited a few fans with the best costumes and one Asian kid who
did a superb impression of the Governator, up on stage.
Then
he worked the crowd like a pro ... saying he would only play the trailer again
if the crowd went absolutely nuts. Then he joked that he wanted sheer
pandemonium and wanted to hear no dialogue thru the trailer and he wanted the
fans to riot and cause the end of Comic Con. He was joking, of course. But
judging by the fact that the crowd seemed profoundly more excited at the end of
the panel than at the beginning, it appears that Terminator fans are now
genuinely excited to see the Terminator franchise rebooted.
