Let's face it. Even if you weren't a fan of the first "Expendables" film, the normally fan-friendly Sylvester Stallone spit in the face of his fans, declaring "Expendables 2" a PG-13 affair, putting commerce before…we don't want to say art, but integrity sure fits. In a media age where there are entire blocks of channels dedicated to 24/7 children's, tween and teen programming, surely there was space for another R-rated action film. Action films provide thrills for all ages, but explosions, violence, and teeth-shattering carnage are best appreciated by adults that have lived a little, that have been places, garnered accomplishments. Perhaps those who are over seventeen. Megan Ellison knows what we're talking about.
The enterprising young head of Annapurna Pictures, who snapped up the rights to "The Terminator" last May, is hard at work developing another two films in the series for Arnold Schwarzenegger to star, even after director Justin Lin departed. And while there's been no recent movement as of yet, Ellison took to Twitter (via Movieweb) to answer a query from the fans at The Terminator Fans, themselves wary over a situation similar to the recent "Expendables" rating donnybrook. "We can't really tell you guys anything about 'Terminator 5,'" she tweets. "But it will be an R rated film as God and James Cameron intended."
Whereas Stallone couldn't wait until after shooting ending before announcing the downgrading of the "Expendables" sequel, Ellison confirms before a foot of film is shot that the next film in the killer robot saga won't compromise. You'll recall the violent "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines" carried an R-rating but McG's ill-advised Saturday morning-ready "Terminator Salvation" carried a PG-13, with a fabricated kerfuffle over Moon Bloodgood's bare breasts being the separated line between ratings, as if McG and the studios weren't total whores for the MPAA. Both films were the very definition of forgettable, and Ellison will be damned to let that happen again.
