Terminator 5 Director Says The New Trilogy Isn’t A Complete Reboot
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While director Alan Taylor gets ready for the release of Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World this November, he has Terminator 5 just over the horizon in 2015. The Terminator film series has seen its share of highs and lows over the years (mostly mediocre to low with the last two films), so it’s up to Taylor to bring the Terminator series back from Salvation.
While talking to Jack Giroux from Film School Rejects, Alan Taylor addressed the Terminator 5 rumors and what Annapurna Pictures and Skydance Productions want from the new trilogy. Taylor explains:
I think that’s a specific case of two wonderful films at the beginning and two films that came later which were less wonderful. I think you absolutely would feel free to define yourself up against the latter ones, but you want to serve the first two, trying to be on the level. The funny thing is, those two films could not be more different than each other. The first one was more of a low-budget horror movie, while the second one was more an amazingly well-produced, glossy thriller with a sci-fi concept. They were both so successful, so there’s certain things you learn from them. If you’re going to try and enter the franchise, you better try to come in at that level. Also, it’s a challenging thing, because what they have in mind is a reboot but not an entirely different way of thinking.
Expectations are high for the new Terminator film, but adding Alan Taylor to the project was a good move. When Kenneth Branagh directed the first Thor movie in 2011, the film was more on the silly and glossy side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (with numerous Dutch angles). While Thor was a good movie, Marvel decided to make Asgard more realistic and gritty for the sequel. Hiring Alan Taylor achieved that tone for The Dark World. Not to say that Terminator Salvation was on the silly and glossy side of the Terminator series, but trying to bring the franchise back to the level James Cameron created with the first two Terminator films is a good goal.
Paramount pushed the release date of Terminator 5 from the end of June to the beginning of July in 2015. It will go head-to-head with the Independence Day sequel for box office dominance. Considering the touch-and-go production of Independence Day 2, Paramount might have made a good move if the Roland Emmerich-directed sequel gets pushed for another year into 2016 instead.
Meanwhile, there are rumors that Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson might be cast as the film’s Terminator cyborg. If this is the case, then Johnson might have to fight Schwarzenegger, who was confirmed to star in the film. There are also rumors that Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn might reprise their roles as Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese. But at the moment, there are no official plot or casting details available.
Screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) and Patrick Lussier (Drive Angry) are tasked with penning the script for Terminator 5, while Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World, Game of Thrones) will direct.
Terminator 5 will hit theaters everywhere on July 1, 2015
