James Cameron talks Terminator: Genesis

With James Cameron knee deep in the avatar sequels he has nothing officially to do with Terminator: Genesis. However…

The writer/director of the first two (and still the best) was talking at the weekend at the Los Angeles Times’ 2014 Hero Complex Film Festival, reports Slash Film, and it seems he did have some input.

We know already that this isn’t going to be a reboot or remake, but rather it will follow the line of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek and Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past and have new actors interact with the original actors to introduce a new universe spinning off from the original. Time travel, huh?

Anyway Cameron said that the concept of Arnold Schwarzenegger being the main Terminator again thanks to the idea that the skin on a Terminator ages like anyone even when the endo-skeleton beneath stays in the same condition was something that he had a big hand in: “My goal in that was not to insinuate myself artistically but to try to make sure they stayed true to the Terminator character and the idea of Arnold being in it. Because he’s a friend of mine and we’ve been through all the wars together and everything. And I wanted them to see the possibilities I saw for what they could do with this character.

“And then David Ellison took the project over from Megan and he and I met a couple times. And so Arnold is very much front and center in the new Terminator films. So I might have had some tiny effect on it — but obviously they had to make the right financial and creative decisions themselves so I’m not trying to take credit for the film that they’re making but that was my goal in being loosely attached to the film but I won’t have any credit on it.”

Cameron went on to talk about his 3D work and the question of seeing his two Terminator movies in the format came up  and while he said the first was too dark and gritty, the second one is a possibility: “Terminator 2 is a more polished film and, I think, it has a kind of timeless appeal. If there was someone who was interested in doing that, and we could make a good case for the business model like, perhaps let’s say, it’s never been on screens in China which in the next few years is about to become the biggest market for films worldwide. That alone might justify the cost of a conversion, which might be 6 or 7 million dollars. And then a 3D re-release might attract some eyeballs in North American and Europe and then the Chinese release, which would be the first release on the big screen, might pay for it.”

Also a few more set pics from Terminator: Genesis have been leaked – you can see them here

So, does it make you feel a little better knowing Cameron was involved in Genesis? And how do you feel about T2 in 3D? Let us know your thoughts…

The Alan Taylor directed reboot is being produced by Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions will bring back Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role with Jai Courtney playing Kyle Reese, Jason Clarke as John Connor and Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke playing Sarah Connor. More recent additions to the cast include Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Byng-hun Lee (G.I. Joe: Retaliation), J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man), Sandrine Holt (House of Cards) and Dayao Okeniyi (The Hunger Games).

The idea is to thread together ideas from the previous movies to relaunch the story of a cyborg from the future sent back to prevent computers from gaining sentience and turning on humanity.

The film will be released July 1st, 2015.