 |
| | |
Imagine a world of permanent darkness, where machines control man’s destiny. Imagine you are the only one who can stop it. But before you do, something terrible has to happen.
– John Connor
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is the highly anticipated third installment in one of Hollywood’s most innovative and celebrated franchises, originated by writer-director James Cameron with the 1984 cult hit The Terminator.
With the blockbuster 1991 sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Cameron redefined the science fiction film and, together with Arnold Schwarzenegger, established one of the most renowned and beloved characters in cinema history.
“ No matter where I go in the world,” Schwarzenegger says, “no matter what movie I have promoted over the last twelve years, people always ask me, ‘When are you going to do another Terminator? You’ve got to do another Terminator. Please, Arnold, do another Terminator.’”
“ The Terminator has become an icon,” adds producer Mario F. Kassar. “The character has this quality about him that makes you want to see him more. You want him to win. You want him to survive.”
Producer, Vajna believes the story about artificially intelligent machines becoming self-aware and waging war on humanity is more relevant than ever before. “We’re all depending more and more on computers for everything from running our electricity to our automobiles. The more we entrust machines to do everything, the greater chance we have of losing control. What happens if they start thinking? What happens they if they turn on us? This scenario, combined with people’s fascination with the concepts of time travel and altering the future, is truly frightening and endlessly entertaining.”
A key component in bringing Terminator 3 to the screen and what Vajna calls the producers’ most difficult decision was hiring a director to develop and direct a screenplay that would maintain the integrity of the franchise while adding an electrifying new chapter to the series’ sophisticated mythology. (James Cameron declined to direct the second Terminator sequel, choosing instead to focus on new projects.) "Clearly, Jim is a fantastic director and has a great past with this character," Vajna says. "We had to find someone who would be able to take up the challenge and tell an interesting story without falling short on the visual effects. We felt that Jonathan Mostow was just on the brink of breaking out as a great director."
Impressed by Mostow’s skillful direction of the taut action thrillers Breakdown and U-571, Kassar was convinced that he was the right person to helm Terminator 3 after discovering his appreciation and knowledge of the Terminator series. "Jonathan is very good with story, and such a fan of the Terminator films, we knew we could trust him to take these characters and this franchise to the next level."
"What I love about the first two Terminator films is that they’re full of pathos and emotion, coupled with state of the art action and visual effects, and most importantly of all, they’re great stories," Mostow enthuses. "I’m not trying to step into James Cameron’s shoes. I’m a fan of his Terminator movies just like anybody else is, and all I wanted to do was create a movie that I as a fan of this franchise would want to go see myself."
In light of his unprecedented collaboration with James Cameron, Schwarzenegger not only wanted a director who could handle the story and special effects demands of epic Terminator proportions, but one who was equally comfortable working with the cast. "It was crucial that the director be one who is very good at directing actors, because there are so many different types of acting in this movie," he emphasizes. "Jonathan is very capable of overseeing every aspect of filmmaking, from the visual effects and the story to the big stunts, but he is also very good at pulling the best performance out of an actor. He’s not intimidated to say, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it. Let’s do this again, because I think you can do better than that.’"
"I knew from my very first meeting with Arnold that creatively we saw eye-to-eye on where this movie should go," Mostow recalls. "Arnold was enthusiastic about how I wanted to execute the technical aspects of the film, and most importantly, where I wanted to take the story and the characters."
| |
|
|
|
|
