You thought that description of Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and the EW cover featuring Matt Smith and Jason Clarke being photo-bombed by a grinning Terminator were head-scratchers? Just wait until you see some of the latest images from Terminator: Genisys. EW just unveiled some new character artwork and the shots feature heavy weaponry and a whole lot of yelling.
Hit the jump to check out those new Terminator: Genisys images as well as some additional plot information. The film opens July 1, 2015 and also stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jai Courtney, J.K. Simmons, Dayo Okeniyi and Byung Hun Lee.
Here's EW's synopsis of the film:
The beginning of Terminator: Genisys ... is set in 2029, when the Future War is raging and a group of human rebels has the evil artificial-intelligence system Skynet on the ropes. John Connor (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes‘ Jason Clarke) is the leader of the resistance, and Kyle Reese (Divergent‘s Jai Courtney) is his loyal soldier, raised in the ruins of postapocalyptic California. As in the original film, Connor sends Reese back to 1984 to save Connor’s mother, Sarah, from a Terminator programmed to kill her so she won’t ever give birth to John. But what Reese finds on the other side is nothing like what he expected.
“There are enough nods to the past that people will feel satisfied.”
You know what isn't satisfying? The silly looking character images. Sure, they aren't stills from the film, but when you've got your cast posing as their characters, it still reflects poorly on the final product and certainly won't do anything to diminish the backlash sparked by yesterday's EW covers and story details.
However, the article does also include the first official still of Schwarzenegger who apparently isn't just making a cameo, but has a "significant role" in the film. He's just standing there holding a gun, but the color palette and tenor of the visual are far more appealing than those photo shoot-style character shots. Here's what Schwarzenegger had to say about reprising his role in the franchise's fifth installment:
“I knew eventually that another Terminator was going to get made. People always have to go through that painful experience of doing a sequel, or something like that, without me.”
Yesterday we found out that Clarke's Sarah Connor "was orphaned by a Terminator at age 9." We still don't know if that's just an odd choice of words and really means that her biological parents were killed by a Terminator or if what Matt dubbed "robo-sperm" is really a thing, but either way, Clarke did have a little something to say about being raised by Schwarzenegger's character after her parents' passing:
“Oh, she’s just a normal girl growing up in a world with a Terminator for a dad. What was her first date like? Did he kill many of the dates she brought home?”
In the midst of all the firepower and action, Terminator: Genisys will also come with a romantic storyline for Sarah and Jai Courtney's Kyle Reese. Here's what Courtney had to say about that experience:
“I had never fallen in love on screen before. It was interesting to do that, especially when you’ve got a backdrop of the future and the past and all this other s - - -: endoskeleton, robots.”
The film will also tap into timely cultural anxieties. Producer David Ellison explained:
“Skynet no longer has to break down our front door because we line up in front of Apple stores to invite it in. We’re constantly giving away our privacy.”
And, of course, we can't forget the action. J. Clarke discussed the pressure of nailing his stunts:
“You have to be physically on top of [these stunts]. If you get it wrong, it’s a two-, three-hour reset. You’re shooting at night. Trying to beat the sun coming up. There are a lot of pressures on these big films. I landed right in the middle of Arnold in one scene, with my boots banging down on the ground. I could have broken the dude.”
Schwarzenegger is still an incredibly fit guy so that's unlikely, but he is getting a bit of a digital makeover for the movie. Apparently Taylor and his team will re-create the Terminator scene during which Schwarzenegger's T-800 lands at the Griffith Observatory, including Schwarzenegger's face and body from the 1984 movie. They're going to do it using a body double and scans of Schwarzenegger's face from the first film. Here's what Ellison had to say about this synthetic thespian:
“It’s the holy grail of visual effects. You create a walking, breathing human that doesn’t exist.”
In addition, the filmmakers also have high hopes that their villain will be a "visual game changer." Taylor explained:
“Part of the challenge is to dazzle people with something they haven’t seen before. There are elements in our main villain that are straining the capacities of our brilliant visual-effects people. So that’s a good sign.”