Interview with McG, Director of Terminator Salvation

On Tuesday, I was lucky enough to participate in a conference call with McG, the director of the new release, Terminator Salvation (sort of - it's a long story). The hospitable director was kind enough to answer many different questions, including the decision to make the film PG-13 rather than R, hiring Christian Bale in the pivotal role of John Connor and a deleted scene featuring a naked Moon Bloodgood that may show up on the director's cut DVD. Interested yet? I've picked out the best questions and have posted them here. Have a look and don't forget to check out Terminator Salvation, which hits theaters everywhere today.

Were you contractually obligated to direct a film that would end up being rated PG-13 rather than R?

No. Not at all. We were given freedom to direct whatever version of [Terminator Salvation] we liked. There’s a guy named Jeff Rubinoff who runs Warner Brothers. And a woman named Amy Pascal who runs Sony Pictures. They’re releasing the picture collectively. And from day one they were free – they gave us freedom to create an R rated picture if we saw fit to do so. And we just shot the film we wanted to shoot. And at the end of the day there were a couple of scenes in there that seemed like it would have taken the film into an R rating but they weren’t really in the service of the story or the characters so we lifted them out and got the PG-13. We really did it without sacrifice and feel great about the movie that’s getting out there now. And I think we live in a time where you see films like The Dark Knight that are made compromise free that ultimately garner a PG-13 rating. And we feel as though we made the film without compromise. So that’s just the honest truth.

You were recently quoted in an interview saying, "You’ve got to earn your stripes and pay your dues and I’m certainly willing to earn mine. Fortunately, I am most comfortable in this genre, ironically." I was wondering if the reason why you’re most comfortable in this genre is because you, in fact, grew up on it?

Yes, I grew up loving these films. These are the films of my childhood that I love the most and you guys know as aspiring journalists and journalists that you do what you’ve got to do to get your shot and show people that you have a talent for what’s been asked of you. And then as you get a little bit more juice in your respective community you’re able to branch out and seek what you’re most passionate about. Maybe you had to start on the food column and your passion was movies and you had to work a little bit until you get over there to a place of writing about the movies.

The same thing with me. I was excited about the challenge of Charlie’s Angels because people said you couldn’t make a successful female driven action franchise. And I thought that was bullshit, we certainly can. So we got some talented girls who were funny and physical and wonderful to entertain. And I think we broke down that glass ceiling.

Then I made a movie called We Are Marshall which was largely about a plane crash. I did that to help overcome my fear of flying and it was very cathartic for me in that way. And now here I am making a Terminator movie which speaks most directly to the films I’m most passionate about that are very exciting to watch for two hours. But by the same token, on the way back to the car and hopefully for many days afterwards you contemplate what was being suggested in the film. And I think the first Matrix picture does that in a very, very high level.

What would you say was the biggest challenge about working on this film?

Just honoring the credibility of what James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger put into motion. I think the film had lost its way after the third film. And all of the fans were hoping for a reinvigoration. And we were hoping to reinvigorate to the degree that Chris Nolan and Christian Bale certainly captured that credibility in the relaunch of the "Batman" series with Batman Begins and of course the mighty Dark Knight.

Also I think there’s a good example in Daniel Craig in [James] Bond. I think he got very much back in touch with what we all liked best about the Bond series. And that’s what we aim to do with Terminator by making a credible film that comes with story first that all of the passionate fans can believe in. That’s certainly the goal.

Obviously, getting Christian Bale attached to the project was a really genius way of bringing the film the credibility it deserves after losing Arnold and after the third film. How were you able to convince him that John Connor was the right part for him? Because I know he’s a real big character actor and summer flicks usually aren’t his thing.

That’s very fairly put. But we talked very specifically about the character having a beginning, a middle, and an end, and a destiny that is more of a burden than an asset. I mean here’s a guy who’s told hey, you’re the one who’s got to lead us to salvation. And sometimes, you’ll notice in the picture he wishes the bullet would find him. And there’s a real responsibility with when somebody taps you on the shoulder and says you’re the one. And you say, "I’m just a computer hacker named Neo" and they say, "No, no, no you’re much more than that." Or "I’m a high school photographer named Peter Parker" and somebody says, "With great power comes great responsibility."

And the same thing goes for John Connor. He didn’t ask for this responsibility, but he knows it’s his calling to assume it, drill down, and make it happen on behalf of humanity and the resistance. And it’s a tremendous burden. And watching Christian Bale manage that is the joy of the picture.
You’re to the point where you’re an outstanding producer as well as director. Do projects sort of fall into your lap? Or are there still things that are off limits to you? Are there still things that you want to do as far as directing and producing?

Absolutely. I mean you’ve got to earn it every step of the way. And I’m attached to make, if you guys know this play, Spring Awakening that was running in New York for a while there that swept the Tony’s. It’s effectively a tragedy. I’m very excited about making that picture and bringing it to the big screen. But I’m also developing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and I’m chasing Will Smith to be in that which should be a really, really fun action adventure based on 19th Century Classic Literature of Jules Verne so we’ll see how that goes. And then who knows, with a little luck we’ll be right back after it with a second and a third picture in Terminator.

And then, of course, we’ve got our TV world going with "Supernatural" going into season five. "Chuck" just got picked up for season three. And now we’ve got a new show called "Human Target" that’s going on Fox that was based on a DC Comic property that we’re very, very excited about it. And as a vote of confidence from Fox, they gave us the spot right after "American Idol." So I can’t complain. Things are good. And I’m always looking to talk to people like you guys for fresh new ideas and keep it cracking.

How do you feel that Terminator Salvation upholds the franchise?

Well, we wanted to be respectful of what James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger put into motion all of those years ago. I was raised on those pictures. It was important to me to go down and kiss the ring of Jim Cameron and kiss the ring of Arnold Schwarzenegger. And I remember asking for Jim Cameron’s blessing. And he said, "I’m not going to give you my fucking blessing, what are you talking about?" And he said, "I don’t know what you’re going to do with the movie. I haven’t read the script."

We both kind of giggled. And he said, "I sure hope you make a good picture, not a bad picture." And he went on to tell me the story about how he felt following Ridley Scott after Alien. People wondered, who the hell is this guy Jim Cameron who had done Piranha 2 and how does he have the balls to follow Ridley Scott after Alien? Alien is a very sacred picture to everybody. And at the end of the day he followed the mythology very well and I think we’re all happy that he made Aliens the follow up to Alien. And that was a great picture. And obviously Jim’s gone on to do great things.

I would never be so bold as to say I’ll have the same good luck, but I’ll promise you that I’ll try as hard as I can.

How is the tone of this film different from the other films since it does take place after Judgment Day? And also if you do make another Terminator movie, will Christian be in it?

The tone of this film is different because it is indeed after Judgment Day. And I think the film had become a little bit farcical after the third Terminator and we wanted to get back to credibility like I said very much in keeping with what Chris Nolan and Christian Bale did with Batman Begins and into The Dark Knight and what Daniel Craig had done so successfully with the Bond reinvigoration.

So we wanted to make sure that we honor the audience by saying, hey, we take this very seriously. And we want to get it right so you feel respected as fans. And yes, Christian and I are both signed up to do a second picture, but we would never be so bold as to presume a second picture. That’s in the hands of you guys. If you guys get online and you talk about how you want another one, we’re going to be ready to talk about what happens with Skynet, what happens to Connor, how did Marcus get that way, where’s little Kyle Reese headed, the whole nine yards.

And not to mention we haven’t even gotten into time travel yet. I’m thinking about making the next picture a present day picture where Connor comes back in time to 2011 and has to galvanize the armed forces of the world to take on an impending invasion from Skynet from the future because they figured out how to send more than just one naked body at a time. And you effectively have our answer to Independence Day. And I think that movie could be absolutely phenomenal.

And along the way he’s got to find Marcus Wright who’s midway through this transition and the chip in the back of his head is going to be the key to taking down the Skynet invasion. I think that could be phenomenal.

With the other three movies and now this fourth one, was it difficult keeping up with the storyline and maintaining the timeline continuity from the first three?

It was difficult but it ultimately, you know, by virtue of our film taking place during the dark period, we know that the T800 came from 2029 back in time to chase around Sarah Connor in the first picture. And we also know that Judgment Day happened approximately between 2003 and effectively right now. So our film takes place in 2018. You see Skynet ramping up their technical proficiency building a great many machines, hydrobots that patrol the water, (moto-terminators) who patrol the roads. Hunter killers in the sky transports to take people back to Skynet. And of course the harvester that collects everybody on the landscape. It’s fun seeing them use all of those different machines all in the spirit of getting to the ultimate killing machine which is indeed the T800 as embodied by Arnold Schwarzenegger. So that was one of the joys of making the film.

Just going back to what you were saying about how you originally approached this film with the PG-13 rating in mind. Does this mean that the theatrical version is the final version that we’ll be expecting to come out on DVD? Or is there a director’s cut in the works?

There will be a director’s cut on DVD. There’s going to be about 30 minutes of extra material. There’s a topless scene with Moon Bloodgood that was always a lightening rod because I thought it was a very delicate scene that was designed to echo that scene in Witness where Kelly McGillis is taking a shower and she turns and she sees Harrison Ford there. And it’s effectively her saying I’m not ashamed, I don’t care what my upbringing was. I’m here to share myself with you. And they never even touch and they’re 30 feet apart but it’s very elegant.

And we did a scene that was very similar to that. And I ultimately decided to cut it because I didn’t want to let the audience off the hook and say there’s the gratuitous boob shot in a movie of this genre. I wanted to keep people focused and on point with the story. But to this day I’m not certain if I made the right decision. So I look forward to delivering that in the DVD. And then doing a lot of talking to the fans to see if we did the right thing or the wrong thing.

Plus there’s a little bit more violence in the manner in which Marcus kicks ass in that Deliverance hillbilly fight. And there’s a few more things along the way. So be prepared for an interesting director’s cut and some commentary that goes with it. It should be good.