The commercially and creatively successful Terminator (“one of the greatest movies ever” © Chris Rose) franchise moves into a new phase with the announcement that a new trilogy of movies has started production.
“Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins”, starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington and directed by movie and TV director/producer McG, began shooting last month in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
According to Warner Bros, Terminator 4 is set in the near future of post-apocalyptic 2018, with top Welsh actor Christian Bale playing humanity’s saviour John Connor, again leading the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators.
This time, the future Connor was raised to believe in is partially altered by the mysterious appearance of Marcus Wright (rising Aussie star Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row.
Apparently Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
In addition to its Welsh and Australian stars, the film also stars a very geographically diverse cast including Russian born Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, Anglo-French hybrid Charlotte Gainsbourg as Kate Connor, South Korean American Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams, rapper/actor Common as Barnes, and the largely unknown newcomer Jadagrace as Star.
Terminator 4, as it will henceforth be known, will be the first of a new Terminator film trilogy and marks the latest installment of the multi-billion dollar Terminator franchise which, in addition to the three original movies, includes the TV series The Sarah Connor Chronicles and various other properties. T4 is scheduled to premiere in the USA on May 22 next year.
In hopefully unrelated news, the UK Ministry of Defence has almost completed the setting up of the Skynet orbital battlefield communications network…
Hmm. I wonder if Christian Bale was chosen for his more than passing resemblance to a younger (albeit slightly leaner) Schwarzenegger? And what that might imply for the human template of the original time-travelling Terminator?
I guess it’s one of them there paradoxes!
I can’t wait until tomorrow night when i’ll be seeing the movie for myself 🙂