McG's Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins will be shooting for a PG-13 rating, breaking tradition with the first three R-rated film, apparently thinking what worked for Live Free or Die Hard will work for them. McG is no John McClane, though.
"The ratings have changed," said Halcyon co-founder and co-CEO Victor Kubicek, a broker-turned-writer-producer. "The PG-13 has increased in intensity."
And of course, won't somebody think of the children? Specifically for the toys for the children.
"Our merchandising program will be the largest to date for 'The Terminator,' " said Halcyon co-founder and co-CEO Derek Anderson, ex-owner of ad agency In the Mix, who adds that he had not discussed the possibility of an R-rating with Warners. "We won't force it. We are carrying on in the tradition of the mythology, with an exciting approach to the action. If we can make a compelling film to reach the widest audience, why wouldn't we do it?"
Let's see now. It's being written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris the same guys who wrote the not-beloved Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, albeit with a polish from Casino Royale's Paul Haggis. Still not the most auspicious roots, and then adding Charlie's Angels' McG as the director of a "lighter" film about a brutal futuristic human war against robots determined to exterminate them, it's possible Christian Bale and Sam Worthington might not be able to save it, even if they do finally cast Josh Brolin as a Terminator.
It may all come down to how much damage Terminator 3 did to the faithful fanbase. The upside is that it looks like the franchise has finally outgrown Arnold Schwarzenegger, which it really needed to do in order to get back to where it needs to be. And it is pretty likely that lots of teenagers will go see a movie about an army of robots with guns attacking people, if angry fans don't torpedo all anticipation with loud bad buzz first. It'll be interesting to watch play out, if nothing else.
And it really needs a better name. Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins is about as bad as 4 Terminator 4 Salvation, or Terminator 4: Electric Bangalore.
