James Cameron talks Terminator Salvation and the Alien prequel

by Liam on November 25, 2009 · 11 comments

alien prequel In the latest issue of Total Film magazine there is a 36 page special on James Cameron’s Avatar, and while the film is the main topic of discussion they threw in a few questions on Terminator Salvation and the upcoming Alien prequel which Ridley Scott will be directing.

What did you think of Terminator Salvation?
It didn’t quite have the emotional power that it should have had. I thought Sam was great, very powerful, and Christian… people have criticised him for being one-note but that’s part of the character. He was playing a guy who’s furiously dedicated to the survival of the human species. Maybe more could have been done with that. In T2 we showed the consequences. It drove Sarah insane.

Was McG the man for the job?
McG’s a strong shooter and he honoured the iconic touchstones of the first two movies – almost too much. I actually felt Salvation is like Aliens, in that it’s a fan making a sequel to a movie they loved.

It must be tough for Cameron to see other people’s take on his creation, especially as both T3 and Salvation have been disappointing. The rights are being auctioned off at some point this month so hopefully a competent studio buy them, instead of two shady producers like last time.

Now for another sci-fi franchise, Alien. Earlier this year Ridley Scott decided to return to the franchise after a 30 year absence, and it may have been Cameron who inspired him.

Ridley Scott is talking about doing an Alien prequel
That’s a strange move for him. I mean, Ridley and I talked over lunch maybe 10 years ago and I said, “Look, I’ll write it and produce it, you direct it, it’ll ****ing kick ass!” And he was like, “Yeah, let’s do it!” And nothing happened. And then they did Alien vs. Predator, and that kind of pissed in the soup. I think Ridley really should do science fiction. He made the two most iconic science-fiction films of the 20th century. When he came to visit me [on the set of Avatar] I said to him, “Quit ****ing around with these wine movies in the south of France, make another science fiction film.” And he saw the technique we were using and got all fired up about it. He turned to his producer and said, “Why am I doing this Robin Hood? I should be doing science fiction!”

  • Steevoger

    James Cameron is great!
    Nothing more to add.

  • http://www.geek-speak.co.uk Chris H

    Really looking forward to the Alien prequel – just desperately hoping it's not going to be typical of prequels in general (i.e. awful).

  • boondock

    Only James Cameron can tell Ridley Scott what time it is.

  • boondock

    The only person who can film Chuck Norris is James Cameron.

    • Nikeair199140

      if they used a cgi to remake arnold schwarzenegger in terminator salvation, hollywood should do a cgi bruce lee kung fu flick and the production should specialize in bruce’s appearance and mannerism to capture the very essence of the martial arts legend that would rock

  • boondock

    Only James Cameron can tell Ridley Scott what time it is.

  • boondock

    The only person who can film Chuck Norris is James Cameron.

  • http://www.r4cards.co.nz/ buy r4 dsi

    That said, the real problem with “Terminator Salvation,” when all is said and done, is that it never for a single moment makes a convincing argument for its own existence.

  • Pjsryan

    I agree that Ridley should do more science fiction. Hes great at it because he makes good science fiction, not the corn ball kind. His influences are all perfect for it, but unfortunately hes spent a lot of time on projects that personally he may have found interesting, but some of them just didnt suit his style as a director. Someone really should have pointed this out to him on a couple of occasions, because sometimes thats all thats needed.

  • Nikeair199140

    CGI technology could be used to make new movies of actors whom we still love but have died or grown old. In my opinion the original writers and directors of succesful films of times past could use CGI to make new sequels to films that we are nostalgic for. Terminator should be rebooted to scrap t3 and salvation and make alternate sequels starring a younger arnold schwarzenegger
    as well as true lies, predator and total recall CGI could make that possible

  • Nikeair199140

    CGI magic should consider making a Bruce Lee movies saga using his writings and theories that were never show cased due to his untimely passing with him taking on (mma fighters, steven seagal, jet li, fresh jean claude van damme), rework the Game of death, Bruce Lee vs the 5 deadly venoms would be worth the price of admisson at the movies.