Usually before big films start shooting, everyone is on lockdown lest plot details leak. But it's hard to stop the gob of Arnold Schwarzenegger– rumour has it his mouth alone could bench press 293 pounds back in the day – and he seemed happy to spill a couple of details about** Terminator: Genesis** to MTV.
Of course, letting the most iconic element of the new film drop hints isn't exactly going to hurt the awareness of the movie, which finds Alan Taylor directing a complex spin on the mythology that reportedly takes elements of the first three films from the series. That includes, apparently, a chance to see what an older version of Arnie's T-800 cyborg would look like. Wait... older?
"The way that the character is written, it's a machine underneath," Schwarzenegger says. "It's this metal skeleton. But above that is human flesh. And the Terminator's flesh ages, just like any other human being's flesh. Maybe not as fast. But it definitely ages." We suppose that makes sense, and would help lessen the CG/make-up required to give his character a youthful appearance.
"Terminator deals a lot with time travel, so there will be a younger T-800," Schwarzenegger continues. "And then what that model does later on when it gets reprogrammed, and who gets ahold of him. So it will be all kinds of interesting twists in the movie, but I feel so good." Presumably it will also explore the Terminator's younger days when his mother wanted him to clean his room before heading out on a human hunting expedition.
In all seriousness, this certainly does make the film sound even more interesting, even if it adds to the complexity. Patrick Lussier and Laeta Kalogridis are the people who have apparently mapped it all out and Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney and J.K. Simmons are all involved in front of the camera. According to The Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit, rising star John Boyega – who has also tested for Star Wars – is being targeted as the son of T2 Cyberdyne executive Miles Dyson. So it would appear he has two chances to take part in the continuation of an iconic sci-fi saga, but will only end up in one, assuming he scores either role, that is...
Terminator: Genesis is scheduled to hit our screens on June 26, 2015.