Day One at Comiccon: ‘Terminator’
Schwarzenegger, Hamilton, Cameron back
SAN DIEGO — Leave the kids at home, “Terminator: Dark Fate” is getting an R rating.
Director Tim Miller told the audience at San Diego Comic-con that it wasn’t always going to be the plan, but the fans demanded it. The panel that kicked off the fan convention Thursday morning may also have gotten the same rating with the number of expletives thrown around by Miller.
Arnold Schwarzenegger even won $20 because Miller said one particular word more than five times.
“It was 10,” Schwarzenegger said. “I counted.”
Would you expect any less from the director of “Deadpool”?
Miller and Schwarzenegger were joined by Linda Hamilton, who is reprising her role as Sarah Connor, franchise newcomer Mackenzie Davis and other cast members on the Hall H stage.
This latest film fully ignores the events of the last “Terminator” movie, “Terminator: Genisys,” starring Emilia Clarke, which bombed with audiences and critics in 2015. Instead, “Dark Fate” picks up where James Cameron left off with “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” in 1991.
Producer David Ellison even told Miller that he didn’t do “Terminator” as well as he’d wished the first time around with “Genisys” and wanted to try again.
Part of the strategy to “get it right” involved bringing Cameron back to produce.
Cameron chimed in via a live broadcast from the set of the “Avatar” sequels. He said he would have liked to have been in San Diego to kick off the 50th Comic-con, but that he had to keep working.
“Everybody’s always whining about how long it’s taking ‘Avatar’ to get done,” Cameron said.
His requirements for a new “Terminator” film started and stopped with wanting to make sure Schwarzenegger came back. It wasn’t a problem, since Schwarzenegger himself said he’s addicted to these films.
“‘Terminator’ was the movie that really launched my action movie career,” Schwarzenegger said.
Then there was the Sarah Connor question. For Cameron and many fans, Hamilton is the one true Sarah. He sent her a “long rambling email with a lot of reasons why she should do it and a lot of reasons why she shouldn’t.”
The main point in the “pro column,” Cameron said, is that people love her as this character.
“The character is the same but time changes everything,” Hamilton said. “I felt there was a world of richness I could explore and then rock it as a woman of a certain age.”
But her 32-year-old co-star Davis still conceded that Hamilton would definitely win in a fight. Hamilton agreed.
“Mackenzie is stronger and younger, but I’m meaner,” Hamilton said with a smile.
Edward Furlong is also returning to play John Connor again.
The audience greeted the action-packed footage with enthusiasm, which reached a crescendo when Sarah Connor debuted on screen.
“Terminator: Dark Fate” opens in theaters Nov. 1 and Comic-con runs through Sunday.
Also at San Diego Comic-con:
Tom Cruise made an unexpected flyby to debut the first trailer for “Top Gun: Maverick.” The audience in the 8,000-seat room went wild for Cruise on Thursday afternoon. He closed out what had been billed only as a panel for “Terminator: Dark Fate.”
Cruise said all the flying in the trailer is real and that “Top Gun: Maverick” is a love letter to aviation. They worked with the Navy for the film, which is currently in production.
“Top Gun: Maverick” is expected to hit theaters next June. Val Kilmer, Jon Hamm and Miles Teller co-star.
Lin-manuel Miranda said he agreed to being in the adaptation of “His Dark Materials” before he even knew what part he was being offered. Miranda plays Lee Scoresby, a cowboy who flies hot air balloons and gets into bar fights, although he said he would have sharpened pencils to be part of the production.
He and his fellow castmates James Mcavoy and Ruth Wilson debuted a trailer for the HBO and BBC series based on the Philip Pullman novels Thursday evening.
A theater of fans got a sneak peek at the latest promo for “It: Chapter Two” at a Comic-con event Wednesday night in San Diego before it was released to the world Thursday morning.
Cast members including James Mcavoy, Bill Hader and Jessica Chastain were also on hand to tease three chilling extended scenes that had the audience gasping, laughing and cheering. They described the intensity of the shoot with director Andy Muschietti, who wouldn’t quit until he got the perfect shot. Columnist John Katsilometes is off today. As of 9 p.m. Thursday:
1. Death penalty to be sought in deadly North Las Vegas shooting
Las Vegas judge set a July 2020 trial date for a man accused of killing an 11-yearold girl in a gang-related shooting that targeted the wrong house. 2. Manny Pacquiao mum, Keith Thurman boastful as title fight looms
The two welterweights will square off Saturday night for Keith Thurman’s title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, where Manny Pacquiao will be fighting for the 15th time of his illustrious career.
3. Ex-nevada Senate Majority Leader Atkinson gets 27 months in prison
Kelvin Atkinson, who became the first black LGBTQ state Senate majority leader in the nation, reflected on his life and offered an apology Thursday before he was sentenced to 27 months in prison for misusing campaign funds.
4. Card player turns $1 into $110K at Las Vegas casino
A Los Angeles resident won $110,000 when she hit a progressive jackpot on a pai gow poker table at Sam’s Town around 7 p.m. on Saturday. 5. Queen + Adam Lambert headline Microsoft show in Las Vegas
The legendary rockers performed a massive but private corporate event for 25,000 to 30,000 conventiongoers Wednesday night at the Festival Grounds at the north end of the Strip, along Sahara Avenue. As of 9 p.m. Thursday:
1. Pacquiao-thurman press conference highlights — VIDEO
At the final press conference leading up to their Saturday bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Keith Thurman and Manny Pacquiao talked about their upcoming welterweight title bout and squared off in a staredown.
2. Former Nevada Senate leader Kelvin Atkinson sentenced to prison
Former Nevada Senate Majority Leader Kelvin Atkinson, who pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds, was sentenced to 27 months in prison on Thursday.
3. Former Metropolitan Police Department Capt. Larry Burns remembered at funeral
A funeral service for a former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department captain, who also ran for sheriff, Larry Burns, was held at The
Smith Center on Thursday.