Common Cast in Terminator 4
Production began earlier today on Terminator 4, and the final casting announcements are beginning to hit the wire. The newest addition to the cast is rapper Common, who has signed on to co-star as a freedom fighter and member of John Connor’s (Christian Bale) inner circle.
Let’s tae a look at the rest of the announced line-up: Sam Worthington (Avatar) is also on board the project as Marcus, a central figure in the planned three-picture arc. Anton Yelchin is Connor’s friend and future father Kyle Reese. Josh Brolin has been rumored to play the Terminator of the fourth film, but this has not yet been confirmed. Moon Bloodgood has also been rumored to be involved in the project. McG is directing from script by John D. Brancato & Michael Ferris and Paul Haggis.
Common has appeared in Smokin’ Aces, American Gangster, Street Kings and the upcoming comic book adaptation Wanted. The rapper turned actor was also scheduled to play the Green Lantern in Warner Bros’ now defunct Justice LEague movie.
Terminator 4 is scheduled to hit theaters on May 22nd 2009.
source: Variety
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Will Be Back for a Second Season
Great News for television geeks: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will be getting an second season after all. According to TV Guide, Fox informed the cast and crew on Saturday night of the renewal.
Update: Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly apparently made a comment earlier this week calling Terminator one of the “lead candidates” for renewal, and confirmed the fact they’ve “already started staffing on Sarah Connor. Reilly admitted that “it was an unusual season” but Sarah Connor “will end up finishing by far and away the strongest new drama of the season” while “other shows have not gotten the traction.”
Despite generally positive reviews from mainstream press, the show suffered a ratings drop from a 11.11 for the series premiere, 6.2 for the second episode, to a 5.0 for the season finale (which was actually up 0.6 points from two episodes prior). Most viewers agree that the show improved in the later episodes (which might explain the rating bump late into the season), with the introduction of Derek Thomas Reese, a Resistance fighter and the older brother of Kyle Reese, who was sent back in time by John Connor. Some fans were worried that Fox might pull the plug as the network has a history of being trigger happy.
Rumor Mill: Has Terminator 4 been Terminated?
Has Terminator 4 been Terminated? UGO’s Movie Blog claims that a crew member “was recently overheard discussing his newfound free schedule due to the production shutting down.” For now we’ll mark this rumor as unconfirmed and hope for clarification, confirmation, or denial from the Halcyon Company in the coming days.
I was actually pretty excited for the fourth film in the franchise. The producers involved seemed to have a clearly laid out plan for a new trilogy. And while many have prune-faced director McG, most have praised the casting of Christian Bale as John Connor, Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, Avatar’s Sam Worthington, and Josh Brolin rumored to be on board as the Terminator.
Production is (or maybe was) set to begin later this month at Budapest Korda Studios. Terminator 4 is scheduled to hit theaters on May 22nd 2009.
Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese in Terminator 4
Anton Yelchin (JJ Abrams’ Star Trek, Charlie Bartlett) is in negotiations to star as John Connor’s father Kyle Reese in director McG’s Terminator 4 (which is still untitled… I say they just call it T4: The Future Begins). Yelchin would play a teenage version of Reese, who was played by Michael Biehn in the original James Cameron film.
According to Terminator mythology, Reese was born after the first war, and survived the capture and killing of his fellow humans only to serve as a Sonderkommando in one of Skynet’s concentration camps. A a resistance movement, led by John Connor, freed Reese and others from Skynet. Reese volunteered to travel back in time to the year 1984, in order to protect the young Sarah Connor, the known mother of resistance leader John Connor, from a Terminator sent by Skynet. On the run from the Terminator (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger), Reese and Sarah shared a night of intimacy, in which her future son was conceived. Reese was later killed by his own pipe-bomb while attempting to destroy the Terminator.
In Terminator 4, Reese befriends Marcus (played by Avatar’s Sam Worthington), an early version of the Terminator cyborg played in previous films by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Christian Bale plays a 30-year-old John Connor. Terminator 4 is the first film in a three film story arc. The more and more I hear about the plot of this film, the more excited I get. I’m not sure about Yelchin as Reese, but there is no denying that he’s a talented actor. I’m very surprised at the level of talent they have been able to attract to this project so far.
David Campbell Wilson, John Brancato and Michael Ferris wrote the screenplay. Paul Haggis has also had talks about coming on board to do some script rewrites before principal photography begins in early May.
Discuss: Do you think Anton Yelchin will be a good Kyle Reese?