Terminator Salvation just released this still of Christian Bale as John Connor, which is nice because the still has more footage than was in the first trailer.  Elsewhere, director McG updated his official blog.  He may have a blog, but he’ll never be a blogger.  *thumps chest with fist, raises two fingers*

We are half way through filming. …You will see that this is a movie inspired by the first films, but is a true new beginning in that it takes place in the future. All three Terminator films took place present day, with Terminators traveling back in time to attack. This picture takes place after Judgment Day [like, in the future]. It happened. Everything is gone. The story of the movie is the "brink moment" Reese always talked about. From a technical perspective, we have set out to achieve a completely new visual style that hasn’t been seen before [that’s what ‘completely new’ usually means]. We’re shooting the film on color stock but are using a method inspired by the Oz process which was developed at Technicolor by Mike Zacharia and Bob Olson. Basically we are adding three times as much silver. It creates a surreal texture that is in keeping with the notion of the entire picture – feeling detached from the world we know today. …We are committed to putting the story and character first and then supplementing that with action and visual effects. It is our intention to make a film on a large scale with the nuance and subtext [I think he means ‘subtlety’] of a high quality independent picture. …It’s a Prometheus tale really, how creating life creates real responsibility – and if left unchecked, can be our undoing.  

There you have it, extra silver, I’m sold. Look, I don’t care if they make the T-1000 fart gold dust, I refuse to believe this will be anything but terrible.  Mayor McCheese pulling off a solid Terminator movie would surprise me no less than an antelope filling out my tax return (just picture the poor guy with his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth in concentration, trying to type with hooves).   

[Empire] 

The upcoming Mayor McCheese-directed Terminator movie promises to be a cheap imitation of the original franchise, so naturally instead of re-inventing the robot played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the first and second movies and giving it a cool new look, they just found a guy who looks kind of like Arnold.

Roland Kickinger, born in 1968 in Vienna before moving to the United States 13 years ago, has a background, vocal fingerprint and resumé that bear at least superficial similarity to those of Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is perhaps no coincidence.
Both are former bodybuilders who took to the sport at an early age and ended up winning the vaunted Mr. Universe competition. Both turned to acting and made it a passion.
Both carry an accent that hints of the old country, and by 2009, both will have played important roles in Terminator films (Kickinger will play T-800 in Terminator Salvation. [Clinton News via AICN]

You may remember this guy from Son of the Beach.  He has also played Arnold in a made-for-TV biopic. Basically he’s made a career out of being kind of like Arnold, so it’s fitting that he’ll be working with a guy who’s made a career out of being kind of like a director.  In the words of Mitch Hedberg, “I got to be in a movie with Peter Frampton and in the scene, we got to smoke pot, but it was fake pot.  So I got to smoke fake pot with Peter Frampton. That’s a cool story.  It’s as cool as smoking real pot with a guy who looks like Peter Frampton.  I’ve done that way more.”

Mayor McCheese posted a blog from the set of Terminator the Future is Wow or whatever it’s called recently.  That wouldn’t be newsworthy in and of itself, but I mention it because he defends his nickname. Because I’m a narcissist, I can’t help but wonder if this is partially directed at me.

Also, I realize my name is ridiculous. I was born Joseph McGinty Nichol. McG is short for McGinty. I have been called this since the day I was born to create separation from my Uncle Joe and Grandpa Joe. I realize it sounds like some Hollywood nickname, hip-hop choice. But the truth is, this is simply my name – for every day of elementary school, every zit-filled day of high school. I have been taking shit for it ever since. I get it, I would think it’s lame too. But it’s just a name, and to change it now would seem fraudulent.

Yeah, well, uh… so’s your face. I must admit on the whole I was impressed with the un-Michael Bay-esque use of correct grammar and spelling.  He also explains the decision to aim for a PG-13 rating.

Oh yeah, don’t get too uptight about the prospect of the film being PG-13. We have entertained the idea of a PG-13 rating largely because Batman Begins, in my opinion, was made compromise-free. So we’ll see. The movie comes first and it will be protected at all times…

Personally, I don’t think aiming for a PG-13 rating is a horrible decision.  Making a fourth Terminator movie on the other hand…
 

Bestweekever today has a sneak peak at the five rejected screenplays for Indiana Jones 4. The best part is, the brains behind Indy 4 really did go through five drafts before finally settling on the alien/monkey fight/snake rope one.

In a further stranger-than-fiction twist, the Bestweekever parody script I’ve included at left may have wound up as the Terminator 4 script:

[From the Wired article I linked this morning] The Connors (along with all of humanity) are still on their primary mission — to stop Skynet from destroying humans — but amnesia-riddled figure Marcus Wright, played by Sam Worthington, throws a wrench into the mix.

Then again, it could just be a coincidence. I mean, amnesia, aliens, time travel, multiple personality disorder – if Hollywood is any indication, there really aren’t that many plot devices to choose from.  Next time they should just hire a foreigner.  Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Sullen (It Was A Meditation On Feminism The Whole Time) has a nice ring to it.

Wired has your first look at the concept art for Terminator 4 (image above is a partial, check out Wired for the full).  It’s still apparently called Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.  Colons are handy for when you can’t decide between a biblical reference implying Christ is a killer robot from the future and something stolen from the Hypercolor shirts ad campain of ’91.  When you’ve got yourself a colon, fuck it, you can use them both!  Thanks, obscure punctuation!

…Moving on:

    "Everything we’re shooting is designed to be tactile and real, you’ll be seeing a whole set of inspired designs you’ve never seen before, and best of all you’ll finally get to see some of the post-judgment day future that was only hinted at in the previous movies," says director McG.
    This early art isn’t much, but it sounds like the visual effects are only going to get better. Dare I say it could be as mind-bogglingly badass as the morphing silver skeleton action from T2?

Dare I say you have the mind of a child, Wired writer person?  Semi-related: Is it just me, or is the first thing that comes to mind upon reading the phrase “Director McG” “Mayor McCheese”?  Come to think of it, it’s a much more accurate title, and one which shall accompany all future mentions of said individual.