We can surely expect to see a lot of plenty of time travel and robot assassin-related violence in Alan Taylor’s Terminator: Genisys, but you may not want to go into the film expecting an entirely hollow blockbuster experience. In fact, if one of the stars of the movie can be believed, then the actual core of the movie won’t be the large scale action, but instead a deep love story.
Currently out promoting his new indie drama Whiplash, actor J.K. Simmons recently spoke with Coming Soon and revealed some fascinating insights about what we can expect from the next chapter in the Terminator saga. Discussing his process coming to the project, the actor said that he started reading the screenplay expecting your standard "formulaic yadda-yadda-yadda then cut to the stuff blowing up," but wound up being completely surprised by just how deep the story got – particularly in regards to a romantic relationship at its center. Said Simmons,
"I found the script to be really much more intelligent and fun and funny and well-rounded and heart-felt. It's a love story. It's a really interesting script…. That was another movie that ended up being really satisfying on all levels. I have a much smaller part in that, but it was really a fun thing to be a part of."
Before some of you more hot-headed, action-loving fans risk getting an aneurysm as a result of this news, remember that James Cameron’s original Terminator was actually very heavy on the romance as well. As our own Kelly West explained this past Valentine’s Day, the 1980s sci-fi classic was as much about the relationship between Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese as it was about Arnold Schwarzenegger blowing people away with huge guns and crashing cars into police stations.
J.K. Simmons signed on for Terminator: Genisys this past April, and given his character description, we can probably assume that he isn’t the one falling in love in the movie. The great character actor will be playing an aging, alcoholic detective who has been tracking Sarah Connor for years and has witnessed all of the bizarre stuff that has happened to her over the years. It sounds like he won’t be featured in the movie a great deal, but I’m excited to see what he does with the role.
Terminator: Genisys is based on a script co-written by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier, and in addition to Simmons the film will also star Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor, Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese, Jason Clarke as John Connor, Dayo Okeniyi as Danny Dyson, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as T-800. Also in the film will be Doctor Who’s Matt Smith, G.I. Joe: Retaliation’s Byung-hun Lee, but at this stage it’s unknown what roles they will be playing. Look for the film in theaters on July 1, 2015.
