With two big box office competitors this weekend only one could come out on top. In one corner was Ben Stiller who was returning with his family friendly sequel to 2006′s Night at the Museum. In the other corner was Christian Bale, who coming off a stint of bad press, is leading the Terminator reboot, Terminator Salvation. Both films were highly buzzed about. Both actors have big followings. But you have to leave it to the kids to dominate the weekend box office. Especially when it is a holiday weekend, families were hitting their local multiplex, and while some were checking out Terminator, most were waiting in line for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

When the first Night at the Museum opened in December of 2006 it grossed $42.2 million over a four day holiday weekend. The sequel starring Ben Stiller easily topped the gross of it’s predecessor hitting $70 million over the Memorial Day Weekend. This is the highest opening weekend of Ben Stiller’s career and this pretty much guarantees us a third film in this very lucrative franchise. Like I said before, kids dominate the box office. Even if the film isn’t very good (Museum has an average 43% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) it still can make a killing. Another thing to note is the lack of kids movies currently out. The last high profile kid’s flick was Monsters VS. Aliens which was released back in March and currently stands as the highest grossing film so far this year.

On the other end of the box office spectrum was Terminator Salvation. Directed by McG, the Christian Bale, Sam Worthington action film is the first Terminator movie to hit theaters since Arnold brought us Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines back in 2003. T3 opened with a strong $44 million six years ago, and the fourth installment in the franchise opened with $53.8 million over the four day weekend. Since the movie opened on Thursday you can add an additional $13. 3 million to that tally bringing its’ total thus far to $67.2 million. The film has had mediocre reviews. It’s Rotten Tomatoes score is a weak 34%, and from what I hear the word of mouth has not been very positive.

The other wide release this weekend was Dance Flick which bombed with $13 million over the four day weekend. That’s all there really is to say about that…

So, how did my predictions hold up? Not too bad if I do say so myself. I was a little over the estimated totals which are being released but it was a tough weekend to predict because either Terminator or Museum could have easily taken the top spot. I originally predicted $78 million for Night at the Museum 2 ( it made $70 million) and my Terminator prediction was $72 million (it hit $67.2 million.)

The rest of the weekend box office looked like this:

Star Trek came in at number three with another small decline in it’s third week of release. J.J Abrams’ movie made another $29 million bringing its’ total to $191 million. The Star Trek reboot is days away from crossing Monsters VS. Aliens as the highest grossing movie of the year. Number four this weekend was last weekends champ Angels & Demons which fell only 40% with another $27.7 million this weekend. Number five went to Dance Flick and like I said earlier, nobody really cares.

This weekends box office was actually up 2% this weekend compared to last year when Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull made $126 million over Memorial Day weekend.

Next weekend we see the arrival of Pixar’s newest film Up. Check with us on Friday as we predict the weekend winner.

Source: Box Office Mojo

I have always loved the Terminator movies. I even enjoyed Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, a movie most fans consider to be the weakest installment. I went into Terminator Salvation with both excitement and nervous anticipation. It succeeds as a Terminator movie, but comes up a bit short as a film in general. In the not-too-distant future, Skynet will launch a worldwide, nuclear attack against the human race. John Connor, the leader of the human resistance, lived with this knowledge growing up. However, it seems to John that the future is different than he was told. As humanity is pushed farther towards extinction, it seems their fate may lie with one person, Marcus Wright.

The movie tells a great segment in the franchise. I loved all the scenes in the future in the Terminator movies, so seeing how things play out was exciting. I’m glad humanity is not shown living in caves and impossible to stand up to the machines; the machines sometimes go on the offensive, and other times the resistance attacks. Humanity has to be smart about their moves, but the machines are relentless. Then Marcus appears, and everything changes.Marcus is probably the best aspect of the movie. Since his last memory was his execution, and he wakes up in a future where machines are in control, the audience is able to feel how he feels, that is, the audience feels out of place like him. Marcus is an experiment to combine human tissue and organs with Skynet terminator systems. His journey begs the question, “What does it mean to be human?”, and the film brilliantly leaves it up to the audience to decide where the line is drawn.

However, one of the problems I could not overlook was the script. At times, the dialogue fits the scene. Other times, it sounds Sci-fi channel bad. Michael Ironside plays his typical military role, not willing to send in rescue to retrieve captured humans from the San Francisco Skynet Facility. The graphics look stunning during the actions sequences, but some of the landscape views look less then stellar.

With a new breath, Terminator Salvation got the franchise off to a good jump start. What do you think, did Terminator live up to the hype?

Fanboyz Grade: B

We have been talking it about it for months. There have been news reports saying he definitely would not appear in Terminator Salvation. There were other reports saying he was definitely going to appear in Terminator Salvation. Even the man himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, said he would not be in it. But now we can put all these rumors to rest because Arnold has been confirmed for McG’s Terminator Salvation. The news comes from Variety who are reporting that Arnold will indeed have a cameo in this latest installment of the sci-fi franchise, but it will be much different than most people would expect. Continue reading to find out why.

According to Variety Arnold’s role consists of CG technology. Here is the explanation from the press release:

Turns out Schwarzenegger has been secretly working with helmer McG and the effects team to reprise his signature role … without lifting a finger.

Schwarzenegger viewed the resulting footage and gave his go-ahead just in time for McG to include the footage before the helmer completes his cut of the movie. Warners first screens the pic in early May and opens it May 21.

A body-cast mold of Schwarzenegger, created when he first appeared as the muscle-ripped cyborg, provided the basis for a digital-effects version of his famous character. The figure appears in “Terminator Salvation” as a living, breathing actor.

Interesting news to say the least. I look forward to seeing how they can pull this off and make it look good. The special effects teams behind these blockbuster movies have great technology, but I have never heard of something like this. Makes me wonder if Arnold was too busy being Governor of California to actually film his scenes, or if this was the only method he would approve for being involved in the project. What are your thoughts?

By Jeff Olson
April 15, 2009
Source: SlashFilm

After weeks of rumors circulating that the newest installment in the Terminator franchise would be rated PG-13, we can now confirm that those rumors are indeed true. Slashfilm is reporting that Fox will air a behind the scenes look at the new movie and the promo ads for this segment are advertising the movie as PG-13. For some time now there has been question as to what the film would be rated. All three predecessors in the Terminator franchise have been rated R for violence. The news that this movie will take a softer rating is disappointing to fans of the series who look forward to see a big budget action film that is ultra violent. Director McG had been pushing for a R rating but the studio clearly wanted to expand its’ audience by offering a “everyone is welcome” PG-13 rating.

A couple weeks ago news broke that the film was definitely slapped with a PG-13 rating after the rating was discovered on a promotional site for Pizza Hut. And as ridiculous as that source sounds it turned out to be correct as we are reporting today that the film will indeed be rated PG-13.

20th Century Fox, the studio behind the film, has a history of taking movies which are made as R films and cutting them down to increase both their audience and their opening weekend box office. Liam Neeson’s Taken was originally filmed as a R rated movie. Fox decided it wasn’t as marketable so they toned down the violence and language and the MPAA gave it a PG-13 rating. This clearly worked as intended as the film was a huge success grossing over $130 million to date.

So can the same method work for Terminator Salvation? Sure, because this movie has name recognition, a popular director, a huge star, and a bad-ass movie trailer. The elements are all there for a hit blockbuster. The rating may alienate fans of the franchise, but they will without a doubt flock the theaters to see the movie. Terminator Salvation is seeing the same action taken against it that Live Free or Die Hard endured in 2007. The fourth Die Hard movie saw a PG-13 rating, and while it still was a box office success, the movie lacked that “Die Hard” feel that fans of the original three remembered. There is something about John Mclaine (Bruce Willis) smoking, swearing, and killing terrorists that is just so damn appealing. Live Free or Die Hard suffered from being “soft,” and this is the same problem that I fear Terminator Salvation will face. How violent can you be with a PG-13 rating? That is for the MPAA to decide, but on May 21st, the film will face “judgement day” from Terminator fans around the world.

By Jeff Olson
April 14, 2009
Source: Sarah Connor Society

With a little over a month to go until it is released, the buzz is certainly mounting for Terminator Salvation. The trailers, the posters, the possible PG-13 rating have been making headlines all over the net. Today we have something a little different to show you for the new action flick. We have several images of concept art courtesy of the Sarah Connor Society. I really enjoy when movies have art such as this. It brings a new dimension to the movie, and it is a great way to hype fans for the film. Last week we ran some concept art for Transformers 2 of the robots which will be in the film. Today we have pictures of a post-apocalyptic San Francisco among many other things. I recommend you check out these pictures, and tell us what you think.

What do you think of these images? Leave us your feedback below. Terminator Salvation arrives in theaters Thursday May 21st!

By Jeff Olson
April 9, 2009
Source: ComingSoon

I am surprised by the number of posters which have been released for Terminator Salvation. There have been several posters for the upcoming action film, and today we have one more for you. My first thoughts on this are that the other posters are cooler than this one. I liked the color scheme and theme that we saw in the first few posters. This new poster breaks that theme by featuring the two lead actors, Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. I wish they would have stuck with the theme of the other posters. I enjoyed the set that featured the actors, but the best sets were those which featured the robots. Check out the first poster and the second poster which I thought were the best for this series. Then check out the new poster for Terminator Salvation.

Do you think this poster is as good, not as good, or better than the others in the series? Leave us your thoughts below. Terminator Salvation arrives in theaters May 21st.

By Jeff Olson
April 9, 2009
Source: MTV

We thought it had been confirmed that Arnold Schwarzenegger would not make a cameo in Terminator Salvation. Arnold himself had stated that he would not be a part of the movie but new reports that are surfacing are in fact stating that Arnold will show up in Terminator Salvation. So, what’s the deal? Is the Governator lying to us? Is he trying to keep this a secret? MTV recently interviewed actor Terry Crews who is in both Terminator Salvation and another project Arnold is rumored to be a part of, The Expendables. Continue reading to hear what Crews had to say about Arnold’s involvement in Terminator Salvation.

MTV News sat down with Terry Crews and the actor had this to say about Arnold:

“I am not at liberty to discuss what kind of cameo it is [in ‘The Expendables’], but I know for a fact he wants to be down,” Crews explained. “Arnold and I did a movie together a long time ago called ‘The 6th Day.’ Arnold and I are cool; he’s the best.”

In addition to Arnold’s role in The Expendables, Crews did confirm to MTV that the governor would be making a cameo in Terminator. Although his answer were very short, MTV has is confirming the actors’ statement. Crews attempted to dodge the question but he had this to say about Terminator Salvation:

“There are a lot of guys in that movie. I mean, ‘Terminator 4’ is very big.”

Crews also stated: “Exactly” when MTV asked the actor if Arnold would be making an appearance in Terminator.

So are these answers to vague to really come to the conclusion that Schwarzenegger will be in Terminator Salvation. I think if MTV is confirming it, and his co-star is confirming it, and Arnold is not being very clear about it, then YES he will be making a cameo.

I guess we will have to wait until May 21st to know for sure.

By Jeff Olson
March 20, 2009
Source: IGN

IGN has debuted, yet another, badass poster for Terminator Salvation. This is the second poster this week, and by the looks of it, they just keep getting better. Once again, this poster has the same theme and color scheme of the previous posters. What i enjoy so much about these posters is the focus on the robots – not the characters. We all know what Christian Bale looks like, but seeing the robots, and especially in this poster, is very exciting. These posters have been a great set and would be a good collection to own. Continue reading to see the full version of the poster.

This poster, courtesy of IGN, is the second poster to be released this week. If you have not see the last poster released click here to check that out. Terminator Salvation arrives in theaters on May 21, 2009!

By Jeff Olson
March 17, 2009
Source: /Film

Slash Film is reporting that Linda Hamilton will be a part of the upcoming Terminator Salvation. Now before you get excited with the return of Sarah Connor, her role will only be a voice over for the film. I would have assumed they would have at least filmed some kind of flashback with her, but this is better than nothing. The voice over is supposedly in the beginning of the film, so maybe Hamilton sets the tone for this latest installment in the Terminator franchise. With Hamilton back on board lets hope Arnold will be back too!

By Jeff Olson
March 16, 2009
Source:IESB

We have several new posters to show you today. The first being a new theatrical poster for the upcoming Terminator Salvation. A few weeks ago we debuted a new poster along with several new images of the new Christian Bale action flick. The new poster is a continuation of the theme of posters which have been released previously. This is shaping up to be a great action movie. The newest trailer has fans excited for what’s to come. This new poster just adds to the hype. Continue reading to check out the newest poster for Terminator Salvation!

I love the tag line for this poster: We Fight Back. If you haven’t seen the latest posters and images for this film you can check them out here along with the newest trailer.

After Skynet has destroyed much of humanity in a nuclear holocaust, a group of survivors led by John Connor (Bale) struggles to keep the machines from finishing the job.

Terminator Salvation hits theaters May 21, 2009!