By Dan Mayfield
Journal Staff Writer
Finally. After months of rumors it's official.
The latest installment of the "Terminator" film franchise will carry the Made-in-New Mexico label.
The film, called "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins," will be the first of a new trilogy of "Terminator" films.
Filming begins in May and continues through August in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and across the state, according to the Governor's Office.
Production will be based at Albuquerque Studios, which is undergoing a large expansion.
"Terminator" is expected to employ more people and shoot in more locations than any film previously made in the state, said Lisa Strout, director of the New Mexico Film Office.
Warner Bros. Pictures plans its release on May 22, 2009.
The film will be directed by Joseph McGinty Nichol, who usually just goes by McG. He directed "Charlie's Angels" and "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle." Both relied on complex, almost unbelievable action sequences.
In a news release, McG said, "New Mexico represents an arid western United States which has a look and feel conductive to creating an American Gothic picture."
In other words, New Mexico can play a post-nuclear dead world well.
Jeremy Hariton, senior vice president of Albuquerque Studios, said he contacted the producers last year:
"McG called asking about the studio and asked to talk further, what we can do, what the state can do and how the incentives worked. I was in L.A. one day and I met the producers and McG, and the rest is history."
He sold McG on New Mexico, but he had to convince the producers that New Mexico was better than the original location: Budapest, Hungary.
"We did everything we could to bring them here."
James Cameron directed the first "Terminator" films, which starred Linda Hamilton. Arnold Schwarzenegger starred as the first terminator robot but will not be in this movie.
The big star this time around is Christian Bale. He starred in "Batman Begins" and will play Earth's savior John Connor.
Connor, according to the "Terminator" series timeline, is destined to lead a human rebellion against Skynet, the computer that builds the robot terminators that try to eradicate humanity.
In the future, robots launch a nuclear war against humans and Connor protects humanity.
"This is the story of a man's search for belief in himself and his fellow man," McG said. "It's a long journey, and the landscape plays a critical role."
In the first film, Skynet sent a Terminator T-800 back in time to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor before John Connor could be born.
In "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," two robots are sent back in time: a T-1000 made of liquid metal to kill John Connor and a T-800 to protect the Connors.
In the third film, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Robots," judgment day begins when Connor discovers how Skynet originates— and, of course, after two more terminators are sent back in time.
Information is scarce on the plot of the new film. Calls to press contacts for the film's producers, Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek, weren't returned Tuesday.
But, T-4 apparently takes place after the events of T-3 because the new John Connor is much older than the teenager of the original trilogy.
The "Terminator" saga also was used in the television show "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," whose pilot was shot in Albuquerque.
"Chronicles" takes place sometime between T-2 and T-3 as John Connor is growing up. The series is a hit on Fox.
The original Schwarzenegger "Terminator" arose at a critical time in the 1980s.
The threat of nuclear war was very real for many Gen-X kids at the time. Also, computers were starting to gain mainstream attention, automating many daily tasks. It seemed logical they could automate a war machine.
Films like "RoboCop" and TV shows like "Knight Rider" only enhanced the idea of a sentient Big Brother-like computer controlling our world.
After all, it was 1984.
AED 
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