All has been quiet on the Terminator 4 front lately - or to give the film its correct, and frankly ridiculous, title: Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.. When McG signed on to direct the film there was terror amongst fans of the franchise, this was however calmed, when Christian Bale was signed as John Connor..

We then heard stories that Bale’s part would be very small, and that the lead character would be a chap called Marcus.. Marcus, by the way is a character so important that he hasn’t been mentioned at all, in three films over the course of 20 years.. First things first, McG clears up the rumor about Christian Bale playing John Connor, which had been said to be a smaller role in the film.. Not true, as McG confirms..

” John Connor’s a major player in it - Christian Bale’s playing that part..”

The213.net had the chance to catch up with director McG and ask him a couple of questions about the film.. Here is the interview that took place..

(213): So what is the status of the film?

McG: We’re prepping the picture right now. The script is largely done, whether or not we’re able to prep off of it, obviously we want to continue to work on it, punch it up and we’re hoping for an expedient finish to the writer’s strike. But I’ve got my fingers crossed that in a week or two it will be over.

(213): How will the TV show play into the film in terms of timelines?

McG: It’s a little tricky, but I mean obviously there’s some liberties taken. What Cameron did with the second picture and what Mostow did with the third and certainly the TV show in the spirit of week in, week out episodic television has to take some license as well. We’re going to do what we can to respect them all, but there are indeed some timeline issues. We speak to the idea of one version of a future, which is clearly articulated by Michael Biehn in the first picture.

(213): So is this taking off after number three or number two?

McG: This is the space between; this is post Judgment day. So there really is no continuation, you know what I mean? Its sort of a different animal, whereas the first two pictures on this thing are Terminators from the future, this picture takes place in 2019.

(213): Is John Connor a major player in it?

McG: John Connor’s a major player in it - Christian Bale’s playing that part.

(213): That was kind of inspired casting - what are your thoughts behind that one?

McG: Well, I think he’s the most talented actor of his generation, so you know again the spirit of the film is that of an incredible take on a serious piece of science fiction. It’s at its core a cautionary tale about humanity sort of thumping its chest and believing ‘look what we can do, we can build skyscrapers and control the tides and aren’t we fantastic’ and all the while we’re destroying the planet and we immediate ensure destruction if our nukes ever got out of hand, so it’s a bit of a cautionary tale.

(213): I was curious, you have your own signature style, which is obviously something that’s different from Terminator films we’ve seen before - how do you feel it will mesh with the new film?

McG: It was important to me to honor James Cameron’s pictures and I spoke to him for a long time, he’s down in New Zealand doing Avatar, and he was very encouraging saying “Look, I was in the same spot following Ridley Scott on the second Aliens picture - it’s like, what are you doing, it’s Ridley!” And he said, “I wanted to be respectful of the film by Ridley, but I wanna go in a direction where hopefully I can satisfy the hard core fans, but also build upon what’s put before us.” And I would never be so bold as to say that we’re going to be successful, but we’re certainly going to do our best and I think we’re greatly protected by Christian Bale.

(213): With such an terrific casting choice in Christian, any other inspired casting choices that you might be thinking about?

McG: Well, I mean we’re in the process of casting right now…

(213): Who would be your “dream Terminator”?

McG: That’s very difficult to say!

(213): Come on, who would be McG’s “dream Terminator”?!

McG: You know, those are big shoes to fill. If you go back and look at the first picture it’s so funny because there’s such a decided difference between what Arnold was doing in the first picture and in the second and third picture. I mean there’s this decided physicality - look what Robert Patrick did to get ready for the role. He’s a guy who I adore, I put him in every movie I’ve ever done. And it’s very difficult to say because it’s a decidedly masculine role and I think we’re living in a time where a lot of actors are very effeminate and they’re sort of skinny, heroine chic and there’s really a masculine component to the role. And there’s guys out there like Russell Crowe and Eric Bana, bring a good physicality, they do what they do, but I don’t know if they’re exactly right at the end of the day. (Smiles) Josh Brolin is a very exciting actor - we’ll see.

Josh Brolin is interesting.. He’s the flavor of the month in Hollywood right now and McG’s smile would indicate that he’s high on the list.. This is also the kind of role that could put him on the A - list, so he seems a likely choice..

Josh Brolin is the 39 - year - old actor who first made it big playing Brand Walsh in The Goonies.. Last year, 2007, was his triumphant return to the big screen with unforgettable performances in Grindhouse as Doc Block, In the Valley of Elah, American Gangster as Detective Trupo, and No Country for Old Men as Llewelyn Moss.. If you’ve seen any of those four, you’ll know that this guy is pretty awesome.. I’d even rank him up there with the likes of Casey Affleck, another actor that blew me away in 2007.. Brolin is probably one of the best new actors last year, and it would certainly be a pleasure having him take on the role of the Terminator..

In considering whether Brolin is perfect for the role, we have to look at exactly who or what the Terminator is this time around.. Is it a direct replacement of Arnold’s character, or is it some new and different character? Either way, that question isn’t answered yet and won’t be for quite some time.. Until then, and until Brolin is even confirmed, we can at least throw around the idea and see what everyone else thinks of it, too..

Finally, what about appearance by the T-800 ( Arnie ) or the liquid metal T-1000 ( Robert Patrick ) from Terminator 2..

” There will be a suggestion of the liquid metal development and a suggestion of the T - 800 development.. It’s going to be a tip of the hat.. We’re undecided if there’s going to be an actual appearance..”

Josh Brolin the next Terminator? I got to admit I like that.. Brolin’s got the looks, and we’ve now seen him in a ton of films playing the ‘ bad guy..’ Just a few months in the gym and he should be shipshape..