Salvation Showcase

First there was a screening of footage presentations for "Watchmen" and then Star Trek "...

Now it's Terminator Salvation's turn.

Director McG took around seven minutes of footage from the film along with him to London- an interview session was part of the presentation.

McG told Time Out Magazine that the plan was to take the franchise back to basics--to "strip away any sense of glitz or irony and focus on character, drama and gritty, intense action".

Convincing Christian Bale about taking the role of John Connor was not an easy sell..

"[Bale] told me to f*** right off, he didn’t want to do it."

Then Bale said, 'Write it so that it could be read cold on stage and I’ll think about doing it.'"

McG staged a ‘cold table reading’ of the script to prove that it could work as a serious drama without the benefit of special effects and stunts obviously the plan worked.

The film will trace Connor's journey from "unloved wanderer in the wilderness to humanity’s saviour, as he uncovers the machines’ plan to harvest human DNA and develop the android ‘T-800’ model".

McG confirms both Bale and co-writer Jonathan Nolan have signed on for two more films.

McG also said:

" I did go to see James Cameron. He didn’t give us his blessing, but he didn’t s*** all over our movie. When Jim was making Aliens, he was following the great Ridley Scott, so he knows how we feel."

Will Arnold Schwarzenegger show up?

"We’re trying to synthesise a human character with a CGI character and that may or may not have something to do with the T800...At the moment it’s not good enough and we’re running out of time."

Finally he dismissed the ending of the film that leaked online which had a 'good Terminator' becoming John Connor - "That is not the ending. John Connor is not the machine. We did discuss that idea, but that is not the ending, I can say that right now."

Expect footage from the 7 minute reel to end up in a trailer at some point.

The film opens May 22nd, 2009.