Guests: Director McG and stars Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Bryce Dallas Howard, Moon Bloodgood and Common
When it was announced that McG had signed on to direct a “Terminator” reboot staged in the future, it was met with a fair share of pessimism from diehard fans and moviegoers alike. There was no way the man behind “Charlie’s Angels” could ever make a decent “Terminator” flick, right? Well, after a presentation today that included a rough (but still impressive) trailer cut exclusively for Comic-Con, there’s not a doubt in my mind that those very same cynics are happily eating their words. It’s not that the trailer was so amazing that it’s all anyone could talk about for the rest of the day, but it definitely showed promise for a film that isn’t even done shooting yet. Take that Paramount, and kudos to McG for managing to scrap together some footage to show the crowd.
With Christian Bale away in Japan promoting “The Dark Knight,” McG brought the rest of his cast on stage to discuss the new film, including the possibility of Arnold returning for a cameo, and that pesky controversy over the film’s still undetermined rating. While speaking more on the latter, McG made it clear that the film comes first, and “if it’s an R-rated picture, it’s an R-rated picture.” The crowd seemed pleased with that response, and McG continued to play right into their hands with plenty of juicy details about the look of the film, as well as what Skynet creations to expect to pop up throughout.
Anton Yelchin also spoke on his preparation for the role of Kyle Reese, claiming that he studied the original “Terminator” in order to develop his younger version of the character into who he eventually becomes. Or as Anton himself put it: “I wanted to see him reach the point where Linda Hamilton would sleep with him.” I was actually quite surprised to discover just how much Anton and Sam Worthington (as a new character named Marcus Wright) are in the film, and though this is very much John Connor’s movie, that doesn’t mean there isn’t enough room for everyone to kick a little ass.