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UPDATES Judge Upholds ‘Terminator’ Sale; Sony & Lionsgate Get Exclusive Negotiation
EXCLUSIVE: Now that Pacificor has pulled the Terminator franchise out of bankruptcy, the question becomes: How to wrap up one of the great sci-fi franchises for hardcore fans who feel neither of the last two installments measured up to the first two that James Cameron directed? Cameron seems unlikely to return to the fold (even though Terminator would fit nicely into the portfolio of 3D films like Fantastic Voyage he’s producing.) But what if I told you his writing partner on the first two films, William Wisher, has scripted a detailed 24-page treatment for Terminator 5, and a 4-page concept outline for Terminator 6? And that I’ve read both?
As a Terminator fanboy myself, I think Wisher has done a terrific job with a plot that accepts the storylines from Jonathan Mostow’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and McG’s Terminator: Salvation. Most interestingly, he turns the story back to the core characters and time travel storyline of the first two films that Wisher crafted with Cameron. Gale Anne Hurd shared writing credit with Cameron on the original film while Wisher got an “additional dialogue by” credit, but I’m told he was plenty involved. He and Cameron shared screenwriting credit on Terminator 2: Judgment Day. But Wisher walked away from the 3rd film out of loyalty to Cameron and had no involvement with Terminator: Salvation. Now he wants back in. I won’t give away Wisher’s plotlines. After all, it’s not clear at this point whether Pacificor — or Sony and Lionsgate, the most likely studios to ultimately make the next installments — will engage him to write the final installments. But I’ve received permission to disclose some high points:
Wisher’s 2-picture construct takes place in a post-apocalyptic battleground, and factors in an element of time travel that allows for Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese to interact beyond their single fateful meeting when he traveled back in time to protect her in the original film. Wisher has created a role for Arnold Schwarzenegger that is as surprising as his shift from villain in the first film, to John Connor’s bodyguard in the second. Schwarzenegger wouldn’t be needed until the final film, which wouldn’t shoot until after he ends his term as California Governor. And who wouldn’t want to see Linda Hamilton back in aerobic top fitness form as Sarah Connor?
There are several new villains, and plenty of firepower. For instance, a swarm of “Night Crawlers,” 4 1/2-foot tall border sentries that are set like mines to spring up out of the ground and ambush rebel fighters with 10 MM pistols built into their wrists, and fingers and feet that are razor sharp. Also fresh off the Skynet assembly line are new shape-shifting cyborgs that can morph together in Transformers-like mode, and are more lethal than anything we’ve seen in previous Terminator installments.
Wisher presents a satisfying conclusion to what by then would be a 6-picture struggle between Skynet’s machines and John and Sarah Connor to preserve a future that allows mankind to prevail over the machines. I’d pay to see these movies. How about you?
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Bring back James Cameron…
It’s the ONLY way.
or just make sure actual fans of the story produce and direct.
No because actual fans will make it for the fans. And that will flop because fanboys don’t know anything that sells. Theyll make it for the minor demographic of fans and thus meaning it won’t even be worth anything. Never have the fans input. Either keep things the way they were for Salvation…or just get Cameron.
I would definitely go to see a new Terminator film and I would pay for it is Sam Worthington was the new Kyle Reese (a possibility given how the previous film ended?) he blew Bale – with his flat, dead & dull performance – right off the screen.
I saw T1 as a 14 year old on a swim camp. It scared me, the thought that I might do something in my future that would trigger some horrific thing in ITS present, to try and kill me was awsome.
Skynet doesn’t have any choice, it had already lost when it sends the Terminator back. Already in T2 it faulters because in T1 the time displacement equipment is blown up, noone else goes through!
However Terminator 2 was warranted due to new techonlogy and ofcourse neuronet’s, and a global network wouldn’t loose the blueprints anyway.
In Terminator 3 I like that Skynet is an AI already and that the robots are just plain dumb machines, although it should be more obvious that they lack intelligence. I am thinking abuut the fight in the headquarters. Also that it wasn’t after JC or SC, but the leuthenants.
t4. Excellent Cast, too few basic machines. the t-800 shouldn’t be in the film , especially not so close looking to the t-100. Deep thoughts like use billowing black smoke since the machines doesnt care is just baloney. The story was really bad, the actors performance top notch however.
t5. The machines should be on the brink of winning the war. The Terminator 100′s should come in mass production. The story should lead to the human race standing on the brink of extinction, thus ending with the sendoff of reese and the terminator. But Since Skynet already knows that they fail, this too is a trap to capture john connor and do a “clock work orange” of him. John Connor doesn’t die as such but he’s transplanted..
Or his wife and child dies at human hands, a la mad max, and connor doesn’t give a shit anymores, so he becomes the target of both man and machine.
Either way it should end with sendoff.
t6 after the send off. it starts with a virtual pciture of the globe with ínternet connections outlined, and a percentile showing the meshed data that is skynet and how little damage it has really suffered. Then cut to London or some big prouction facilities being nuked by the resistance, and how the percentile barely flickers down to 99,99 then back up 100 again.
In the end though the humans doesn’t win. One percentile shows the resources availble on the globe for the machines, and it’s nearly depleted, so it has build a spaceship, or itself is a spaceship whithin witch it’ll quit the earth, for now. The coordinates to the new planet to colonize stems from john connor since he “somehow” got to know them before the awakening.
Then Skynet leaves, after a talk with Worthington’s reanimated machine like body. He was half and half. A blend, and he stays behind. He’s like the child of Skynet. Free and independant. Thats what was so new about him in t4, not that he was an infiltration unit.
well some thoughts to move forward.
Hi,
As a simple fan, That would sound soo cool!
Also, from some of the stuff I’ve heard from Cameron previously when asked about The Terminator Franchise, he hasn’t been bitterly against it, more of a lack of creative motivation/inspiration.
When are franchise-owners going to realise the importance of auteurs who’ve spent a long time thinking about such things, rather than the McG sausage-factory type of productions (though salvation wasn’t as bad as it might have been)?
Kind regards,
Shakir Razak
This sounds fantastic. While I am probably in the minority of people who actually enjoyed T3, I was a bit disappointed with Salvation. So if something can be done to change it up a bit, and get it back on track… I mean, come on, you have to give a cowriter of T2 a chance. T2 is one of the greatest action movies of all time, imo.
Another thing this franchise has to do: get the original music back in the movies! Brad Fiedel’s score is hauntingly beautiful from the first two movies, so I fail to understand why they wouldn’t use it in the last two. Get the music back, and you win half the battle!
Next, change directors. Mostow did a good job, McG, not so much. Imagine if a director like Greengrass did a terminator movie… wow.
So true about the music. I remember McG saying about changing the music – well, something about showing the franchise going in a whole new direction and putting his stamp on it. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out so well.
I agree with you 100% about the music and T3!
While I wish Mr. Wisher lots of luck, I just don’t think the Terminator franchise has all that much life in it. Sure some fanboys would say that they’d love a reboot, but the giddy thrill of the original is long gone.
Don’t like the sound of this. Ripping off Transformers? Reallly? Just give us more liquid T-1000 terminators. They’ve tried to top that model and haven’t come close and just come out with more ridiclous ones in thelast two films.
Time travel just muddies up the franchise. While Sarah Connor is a great character she died of cancer and using time travel to bring her back does not interest me and would only confuse fans and create more paradoxes. Terminator 5 should be about finding the location of Skynet’s timemachine and sending Kyle back. The final movie should be years later wrapping up the war with John Connor dying as mentioned in T3.
“The final movie should be years later wrapping up the war with John Connor dying as mentioned in T3.”
I disagree. We really don’t have to lend alot of weight to what McG stated in his movie, aside from the evident “Judgemnet Day” started and JConnor was in the bunker. I accept a few things from Salvation, but as a whole, it was a waste. Editors did the best to get a story out of what was filmed, but overall that movie was pointless in the overall scheme of the story that Cameron created.
Time travel? Impersonating transformers? Bringing characters back from the dead? Nice. All they need now are some ewoks and some sort of shark-jumping terminator and they have it made.
While it all sounds good on paper, the truth is McG delivered a great entry into the Terminator franchise. It certainly stood up to the original films a lot better than The Sarah Conner Chronicles did (really, teenage John Conner is a whiny bitch? I think not!)My point; the franchise really does not require a reboot, and if these treatments do fit into the continuity set up by 3 & 4 bring it on. But lets keep McG, Bale and Worthington in the mix as well.
I 100% agree. While I think Wisher’s ideas are great, I would really like the same cast and crew from Salvation. I actually loved the movie (the show was GREAT season 1. Season 2 was god aweful and went nowhere).
Couldn’t disagree more. McG’s Salvation lacked character development and lost its focus – I’m a huge fan of the franchise and got really bored. And I couldn’t have cared less about John in this movie. That’s BAD.
The Sarah Connor Chronicles actually had great characters and pushed the world of Terminator into greater spheres – it’s amazing what you can do when you don’t have a massive budget, distracting the audience from bad storytelling with huge explosions.
I would almost go in the direction of ignoring T3 and T4 and pick up where T2 left off. But if Wisher can pull it off by including them, go for it. But leave McG OUT.
“I would almost go in the direction of ignoring T3 and T4 and pick up where T2 left off…”
The 3rd film was more like a spoof movie which was insulting and the 4th installment lacked any substance to say anything about why John Connor was important in any way. Picking up from T2 seems like a great option but only if you get the right people behind it. 3 and 4 are clear examples of inadequate tail coat steppers!
Did you actually WATCH Terminator Slavation?
And speaking of watching Terminator films: Did you actually watch Terminator 2? Because John Conner was DEFINITELY a whinny bitch in that film as well.
john connor whined and yelped constantly.
he even cried a couple, if not a few times.
superbaby. just like claire bennet from heroes.
PS. Though I do agree with you about making John all emo and angsty in the series. But I blame the actor a bit for that. (Except his haircut in the first season wasn’t his fault. Ugh.)
‘While it all sounds good on paper, the truth is McG delivered a great entry into the Terminator franchise. It certainly stood up to the original films a lot better than The Sarah Conner Chronicles did (really, teenage John Conner is a whiny bitch? I think not!)My point; the franchise really does not require a reboot, and if these treatments do fit into the continuity set up by 3 & 4 bring it on. But lets keep McG, Bale and Worthington in the mix as well.’
I completely disagree with this. I think The Sarah Connor Chronicles had a better story line & terminators (shirley manson) than T3, also Thomas Dekker did a great job as John Connor. Salvation was a better effort, although I thought Sam Worthington’s Marcus was better than Bale’s Connor, I mean why use that voice it was bad enough in Batman not to mention the lack of emotion. Its not that I don’t like Bale I just didn’t like his performance in Salvation.
I think the idea of more Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor would be great but also agree that it would be good to tie in the discovery of the time machine and sending back Reese. I agree John Connor doesn’t have to die. With all this time travel and futures not set etc anythings possible. I just hope whoever writes the next one concerntrates as much on the story as the action and special effects.
I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to read such a well written, thoughtful, piece that isn’t full of outrageous negativity for negativity sake.
thanks Mike. keep up the good work!!
I’d pay $50 a ticket for each film right now if William Wisher’s involved. I’d pay $100 a ticket right now if he and James Cameron were both involved.
Ditto!
TRUE ill pay 100 bucks if cameron directs it.
Ummm, that sounds amazing but also super expensive — bring on that shits.
Not to be a dick, but I can’t really tell you if I’d pay to see them unless I’d read at least as much as you had.
Wisher being involved is certainly reason for hope, but “Salvation” had some bitchin’ Constructor-like robots too, and the concept of Sarah Connor and Reese coming back via time-travel sounds, on its face, like a desperate attempt to get the band back together.
It’s all in the execution, I suppose, but after the last two abominations, buzz words like this aren’t going to get many excited.
I agree. I would like to see Sarah Connor/Linda Hamilton and particularly Kyle Reese/Michael Biehn return (man, every Terminator since T2 and particularly the TV series has been significantly lacking because Biehn brought a heroic masculinity to the film that the recent actors lack (too much estrogen in the water I guess) BUT just as with Ripley in Alien 4 time moves on. Sigourney Weaver wasn’t right for Ripley in Alien 4 and Hamilton and even Biehn are now too old to reprise their. Really, who wants to see their heros become old?
You tantalized my inner-nerd with these plot details, Mike.
It sounds as close to Cameron as anyone’ll get. As long as McG is out, I’m in.
I’d pay to see them, Nikki. McGs entry was so weak it almost made me think the franchise was dead, but it would be great if Wisher could write these movies and perhaps Cameron may oversee them as a producer and make sure the quality control went back to, if not T2 levels -one of the best action films ever, if not the best- at least to a point of decorum and parity with the two first installments. I miss this kind of quality,popular blockbusters. They make a few of them, but not as many as they used to…
Wow… you people are fckn whack. Salvation was awesome. 500% better than that piece of junk T3, and Bale brought John Connor back to his mean ass self that was only visible in T1. I wish I could smack people like the ones saying Salvation sucked and T3 was better. T3 was a stab in the heart and made me wanna shoot myself. T:Salvation actually stuck with what the Terminator series was about (man and machine, not fckn time travel) and all you idiots can say is that McG sucks, Bale can’t act, and where’s Cameron?
fckn give me a break… Terminator was not just about time travel, if it were we’d have all these stupid lame ass sequels with robots bouncing here and there and everywhere in time and humans doing nothing to stop them. NOPE. Terminator was about machines trying to exterminate humans, with the humans finally fighting back IN THE FUTURE. It just so happened that a few robots got sent back in time and so the humans had to send someone to stop them. Lets not forget the reason of why all of this happened. Machines took over the planet, humans faught back. If T5 and T6 become films that are nothing but remakes of the previous films (or if they turn out to be like the tv series), then I can’t see myself as wanting to be a fan of the newer movies, becuz McGinty did what he should have and made a Terminator movie that fit exactly where it should have, in the future where the machines are starting to control everything.
Hamilton and Biehn are 53, and Schwarzeneggar is 62. Is Wisher proposing they all be digitally de-aged with CG for the whole movie?
The only way I see anyone seriously caring about Terminator any more is if the owners-that-be pay Cameron a shitload of money to executive produce and godfather the project. But given the mutations to the mythos imposed by T3 & T4, I just don’t see how this fractured continuity can be satisfactorily reconciled and resolved.
In other words, if Cameron’s back in, I’m back in. Otherwise, as a Terminator fan, I’m done, thank you very much.
Cameron will never come back in any capacity. He’s moved on creatively. He’s stated unequivocally that his arc ended with Judgment Day. His messy split from Linda Hamilton probably had a little to do with inspiring him to undertake other endeavors.
They should bring in the director who did the redo of Battlestar Galactica…he’d give it life, style, meaning and get performances from actors. What he did on Battlestar was amazing with a small TV budget – imagine what he’d do with a Terminator budget!!
Really, the director of the new Battlestar Galactica? I’ll one up you, how about the director of the Bill Cosby Show?
Well, if you’re going that way, why not hire Joss Whedon, as he, at least, expressed an interest in buying the rights to the films. But Cosby…really? That’s completely insulting to Ron Moore who DID do great things with Galactica v2.
Kill it with fire. This is a intellectually-bankrupt franchise. Let it lie for a decade or so, and the, if you must (and they always do), do a reboot.
Much prefer to see this then what will most likely end up being another “reboot.”
If there’s one thing that might reunite many lost Terminator fans is the prospect that Wisher is involved with the next movie, that’s for sure. Here’s hoping as from what you’ve written, this all sounds pretty good.
Having Sarah and Kyle back seems odd. I wouldn’t want to see a rehash of the first 2 movies. The common thread in the myth is John Conner and he should be the focus any new films.
The Sarah Conner Chronicles did bring up some interesting plot points that could be incorporated into new films like Skynet trying to come up with the perfect human like cyborg
It’s not that Terminator 4 was bad. It was just boring, lifeless and paid no heed to T1 and T2. Script, lackluster direction and an actor thinking he was in another movie (I’m lookin at you Bale) was a perfect recipe for just-ok. Though I agree that Biehn, Hamilton and Ahnold are a bit past the prime of this series, the idea of Wisher at least trying to bring back around what we all loved about T1 and T2 definitely gives me hope. And perhaps Cameron will be enticed too.
Thanks for the update Mike. Nice to have another view on news about genre films.
I WOULD pay to see these!
Bring Wisher on to script these two movies. It might be wise to try and talk Cameron into returning to the series too, even if it’s only in a Producer capacity and he chooses the director to pass the torch to (like with Peter Jackson’s involvment in “The Hobbit”).
T3 was not near as good as T1 or T2, but it was fun. Terminator Salvation was a disaster, however. The fact that they talked themselves out of the original intended ending and ended up with that piece of garbage final scene was a joke.
I hope they have more sense this time, and return to the human drama’s the first two were, with themes of human choice and nuclear technology.
What BS is this posing as journalism? So a guy involved in the writing of the first two Ts has written a treatment for two more. That’s fine. But then we get three paragraphs of gushing over an outline we don’t get to read and then crowd-stoking trying to get a bunch of positive comments for what? To influence the owners of the franchise? You couldn’t write a bigger puff piece if Wisher had paid you. I’m all for getting the series back on track but these BS puff pieces undercut what Nikki built in this site. Fleming should be ashamed.
I am not a Cameron fan, & I thought T3 & T4 were okay (loved Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese!) so I’ll definitely be seeing the next two installments, no matter who is involved.
I loved Anton Yelchi as young reese…and personally i dont think there would be another qualified actor to try to top Michael Biehn as reese…”come with me, if u want to live”….lol…I think there was alot of light coming from salvation….That movie was dope…and was better than 3 and if not, a dope continuation to T2 Judgement day…tho it lacked a lil bit from John Connors magic, John was in battle mode, and it wasnt like Bale was ed furlong, and people need to understand that…I can see improvements, perhaps the lazer guns from T1 And T2…we can clearly see that regular guns werent helpin against the T800…so the resistence uping their tech would be awesome…and bringin back the awesome music from the first terminator would be awesome, and T2 wasnt as dope as Terminator was….SO take that to T2 critics who ride that movie, Salvation was a head nod and a step forward…5 and 6 would sound awesome..and Im going to root for underdog MCG to handle the rest with Wisher or any of Camerons helps if Cameron doesnt decide to do it…Time Travel sounds awesome..as rob patrick coming back as himself being a age scientist designing himself as a t1000 that would be dope….think like rob downey was developing his suit as ironman? I think R Patrick in a lab on that level would be dope…also having linda hamilton as sarah connor or michael biehn back would be dope…as older versions of themselves or as flashbacks would be cool…and for please give John Connor some life….give Bale a few of those Bruce Wayne smiles that he did on The Dark Knight…we need a little more effort on his part…As for sam worthington was a awesome character on salvation, but id like to see arnold come back aged or maybe a lil cgi and have arnold turn against john and see worthington get taken out by him or another terminator…or maybe worthington becomes a john connor clone that way the john that does die as mentioned on T3, is actually marcus wright…(sam worthington)…Im sooo fired up, Id like to see what happens next…I give T:Salvation a A or A-…..Sort of like Batman Begins, and Id hope and like it if T5 was TDK and 6 just leaving us in awe…Wisher involved in the script? bring it on!
Bill Wisher is one of the most competent and creative writers I’ve had the pleasure of working with. His skills and close relationship with Cameron should certainly ensure an amazing and successful next installment to the franchise. This is great news for a property on life support