Fan Fare

Terminator soldiers on in animated “machinima” series

After a lower than expected opening for action movie “Terminator Salvation,” the studio behind the film is soldiering on, like a Terminator robot on the warpath, with the release of an animated series that uses graphics from a video game to tell a story, in a technique called machinima.

Warner Bros. said that its “Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series” is the first long-form dramatic machinima series produced by a major studio. The creators used the “Terminator Salvation” video game to make the animated series.

 The six-part animated series was produced in association with McG, the director of the movie. It follows the adventures of Blair Williams, a resistance fighter who was played by Moon Bloodgood in the movie and voices her character in the machinima series. It follows how Blair joined the human resistance against Terminator robots that unleash destruction on planet Earth.

From the studio’s perspective, a machinima series is a cheap way to make new content to support a film. McG noted that the machinima technique allows creators to show things that would be “cost-prohibitive or even impossible on a set.”

That said, McG and Warner Bros. spared few expenses in making “Terminator Salvation.” The film reportedly cost about $180 million to make, but since opening on Thursday the movie has earned $65.3 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to final figures on Tuesday from tracking firm Box Office Mojo. Industry forecasts had expected the movie to open in the $70 million range, so the opening was likely to disappoint some backers of the movie.

The Terminator machinima series is available at iTunes, Amazon Video on Demand, Xbox Live and the Sony PlayStation Network.

Photo Credit 1: Warner Bros. (Image from “Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series”)

The Governator gets face time in “Terminator Salvation”

  Arnold Schwarzenegger is probably better known outside of California for playing a Terminator in the movie franchise than he is for acting as governor of the Golden State.

 So for the movie “Terminator Salvation” opening on May 21, Schwarzenegger had to figure out how to be both the Governator and the Terminator, because as a busy man he didn’t want to spend time being both.

“Terminator Salvation” director McG, whose given name is Joseph McGinty Nichol, said that the problem was solved by using visual effects to superimpose Schwarzenegger’s face onto the body of a deadly Terminator robot in the movie, for a short scene. The image was taken from Schwarzenegger’s appearance in an earlier movie, before he became California’s governor in 2003.

McG said he spoke “at great length” with Schwarzenegger about “Terminator Salvation.”

“He was always very supportive and very helpful, but he has a job to do running the state of California in a difficult time where there’s budgetary problems and job problems, and he just didn’t want people to think he was down messing around on a film set,” McG said.

A representative from Schwarzenegger’s office was not available to comment.

What does The Governator think of the final result?

The recording Christian Bale WANTS you to hear

A contrite but humorous Christian Bale called into an L.A. radio station on Friday to apologize for his expletive-laced tirade on the set of “Terminator Salvation” that has circulated all week on audio tape form, and the actor also gave his version of what happened that July day when the outburst was recorded.   

“I know I have a potty mouth, everybody knows that now,” Bale told radio station KROQ. “But I understand this is live so please don’t worry, I will behave.”

And Bale apologized, pleading with listeners to not write off the new “Terminator” movie because of the outburst.

“I was out of order beyond belief, I was way out of order, I acted like a punk, I regret that and there is nobody that has heard that tape that is hit harder by it than me,” Bale said, as KROQ radio personality Lisa May cooed in sympathy.

Bale’s recording was posted on Monday by celebrity Web site TMZ.com, and it has inspired a cottage industry of audio mixes, including a mashup of the Bale outburst and an on-set tirade from conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly.

But details on exactly what happened that day in July have been more scarce than the remixes. Bale offered his version of it all in his call to KROQ.

Bale said that he was playing a scene where his character, John Connor, confronts his mother’s insanity, and that he was trying to convey a bit of his own character’s insanity. Then, Bale turned on the film’s director of photography Shane Hurlbut, accusing him of interrupting the scene and ruining it.

Christian Bale: the fallout continues

(Writing and reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Actor Christian Bale’s expletive-laced tirade on the set of the upcoming action movie “Terminator Salvation” has been the talk of Hollywood this week. The widely heard audio tape from that verbal explosion has been remixed into a dance song and has inspired a T-Shirt. 

But on Wednesday, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton linked to perhaps the most creative product of the audio remix cottage industry that has resulted from Bale’s blow-up. It’s a mashup of the Bale tape and footage of television commentator Bill O’Reilly losing his cool on the set of his news program. Be warned, audio from ”Batman” Bale’s tirade is not exactly family friendly.      The recording of Bale’s outburst was first posted at celebrity news site TMZ.com. Bale reportedly lost his temper on the set of “Terminator Salvation” when the director of photography interrupted a scene the actor was playing in.      Hollywood has a long history of on-set tirades and grudge matches. What’s new is that the Internet provides a place to hear exactly how bad Hollywood’s bad boys and girls can be. Does that mean actors like Bale will keep their behavior in check next time? Don’t bet on it.