The Insider: 040

Pre-sequel time
As though working with Tom Cruise and the pre-crime unit from Minority Report, studios have begun commissioning sequels before the first film is even in cinemas. Now, we can understand Paramount wanting the Star Trek machine to gear back up immediately after the first movie premieres, but a sequel to drunken comedy The Hangover? While the film – which stars Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms – looks funny, shouldn’t they wait until the box office is in? At least it’s only a script commitment so far…

 

The Trek buzz warps to positive
Talking of Trek, some very lucky fans in Austin, Texas and then at the world premiere in Australia got to be among the first audiences to see a finished print of JJ Abrams’ take on the space-going franchise. The result? Lots of highly positive buzz – looks like we have a winner on our hands. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to cry bitter tears of rage that I, as a 28-year-long fan, have yet to see more than 30 minutes of the thing. Manly tears, yes. But tears nonetheless.

 

The Box Of Delights reopens!
Ah, The Box Of Delights… The very name conjures up images of cozy teatime viewing and magical adventures. Well, now the story – adapted from John Masefield’s novel into a 1984 BBC series – is hitting the big screen. Brilliant Films has signed Mike Newell to direct a new version, which Millions scribbler Frank Cottrel Boyce is busy adapting. Can anyone else smell baked beans?

 

Terminator! You know… for kids?
While there hasn’t been official studio confirmation of this fact, it looks like McG has had to go with the safer rating for Terminator Salvation, as the American rating is apparently a PG-13. How was this revealed? On a Pizza Hut promotion. Way to keep the edge there, guys. All the other Terminator movies were R-rated in the US, and the new film’s rating allegedly hinged more on a shot of Moon Bloodgood’s chest than any violence, so it looks like we’ll have to wait for the unrated DVD release to get the full version of the movie.

 

He’ll be back
But my second Terminator story of the week brings some better news – actor Terry Crews, who has a small role in Salvation, has confirmed that Arnold Schwarzenegger has indeed filmed some sort of cameo role in the film. While Crews wouldn’t go into detail (he said he hadn’t been there for the actual shoot), surely it’s what we’ve all been hearing about – and director McG has been trying to achieve – using a body double to play Arnie’s T-800 Terminator (or some version of it) and mapping his face on to the actor’s performance. Or maybe just using his voice. Either way, it’s a good thing.