Kingsman: The Secret Service spy film

Kingsman: The Secret Service is a spy film directed by Matthew Vaughn, and based on the comic book The Secret Service, created by Dave Gibbonsand Mark Millar. The screenplay was written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman. It follows the recruitment and training of a potential secret agent, Gary "Eggsy" Unwin (Taron Egerton), into a secret spy organisation. Eggsy joins a mission to tackle a global threat from Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), a wealthy megalomaniac. The film also stars Colin Firth, Mark Strong, andMichael Caine.

Kingsman: The Secret Service premiered at the annual film marathon Butt-Numb-A-Thon on 13 December 2014, and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 29 January 2015. The film received positive reviews, and has grossed over $413 million worldwide, becoming Vaughn's most commercially successful film to date.

A sequel is scheduled for a June 16, 2017 release.

During a raid in the Middle East, a probationary secret agent sacrifices himself to save his team. Feeling guilt over the loss of his colleague, Harry Hart, code-named "Galahad", delivers a bravery medal to the agent's widow, Michelle Unwin, and her young son, Gary "Eggsy", saying that if they ever need help, they should call the phone number on the back of the medal and deliver a coded message.

Seventeen years later Professor James Arnold is kidnapped by unknown assailants, led by Internet billionaire Richmond Valentine. One of Hart's fellow agents, "Lancelot", attempts to stage a rescue, but is killed by Gazelle, Valentine's henchwoman. Valentine, known for his philanthropy, continues to meet with various heads of state and VIPs, some of whom go missing afterwards. He also announces a giveaway of SIM Smart cards, granting a lifetime of free cellular and Internet access to anyone who wants it.

During this time, Kingsman has been investigating Valentine in connection with VIP disappearances and notes that Arnold is no longer missing. Hart tracks down Arnold and confronts him about his abduction. A chip implanted in Arnold's head explodes, killing him; Hart is injured during his escape from unknown assailants. Undeterred, Hart poses as a billionaire and dines with Valentine to try to discern his plans.

In London Eggsy is now an unemployed young adult living with his mother, infant half-sister, and abusive stepfather Dean. Despite being intelligent and capable, he left training for the Royal Marines and lives an aimless life. After being arrested for stealing a car, Eggsy calls the number on the back of the medal. Hart arranges for his release and tells Eggsy about the existence of Kingsman, a secret intelligence agency for which both he and Eggsy's father worked. In the wake of Lancelot's death, the agency opens a vacancy for a new agent, and Eggsy agrees to apply as Hart's candidate. He joins a group of other candidates including a woman named Roxy, whom he befriends. Training is overseen by "Merlin", a senior Kingsman who acts as teacher, quartermaster, pilot and Ops co-ordinator. The candidates are eliminated one by one until only Eggsy and Roxy remain. Eggsy fails his final test - asked to shoot a dog he had raised from a puppy with a gun secretly loaded with blanks - and Roxy becomes the new Lancelot.

Hart tracks Valentine to an obscure hate group church in Kentucky, where Valentine and Gazelle are conducting a test. They broadcast a signal, which is picked up by cellphone SIM cards and causes everyone in the church, including Hart, to become uncontrollably violent. A mass brawl breaks out, with Hart the sole survivor, while Eggsy, Merlin and "Arthur" — Kingsman's leader — watch via video link. Valentine approaches Hart and kills him after revealing his plan.

Eggsy returns to the Kingsman headquarters, where he discovers that Arthur is one of Valentine’s converts. Arthur explains Valentine's views: humanity is akin to a virus, and global warming is the Earth's equivalent of a fever. Valentine intends to kill the virus before it kills the host, broadcasting his signal worldwide to cause a massive culling of the human race. Only a select few that Valentine has deemed worthy of living—those who have sided with him and thus received the protective microchips in their heads, and the VIPs he kidnapped—will be spared.

After avoiding Arthur’s attempt to kill him — killing Arthur as he does so — Eggsy teams up with Merlin and Roxy, the new Lancelot. Lancelot pilots a high-altitude balloon vehicle into the stratosphere to disrupt Valentine's satellite network with a missile, while Eggsy and Merlin directly assault Valentine’s mountain bunker. Lancelot knocks out the satellite, not realising that Valentine has a substitute satellite. Valentine activates the signal, causing global pandemonium.

Eggsy and Merlin infiltrate the bunker. Merlin hacks the system, successfully disturbing the signal for a while, before Valentine activates the fingerprint scanner, thus countering the hack. Eggsy is later surrounded by the guards, but Merlin activates the chips implanted into everyone involved in Valentine's scheme, killing everyone except Valentine and Gazelle. Eggsy fights Gazelle and kills her with a booby-trapped shoe given to him earlier by Hart. Eggsy then manages to kill Valentine, ending the worldwide carnage.

In a mid-credits scene Eggsy, now Harry's replacement as Galahad,[citation needed] reaches out to his mother, offering her a nicer house and a chance to get away from Dean. In a callback to when Hart recruited Eggsy, Dean and his subordinates move to attack, and Eggsy quotes his old mentor by saying "manners maketh man" before moving on to effortlessly knocking Dean down with a mug of beer.

CastTaron Egerton as Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, a poor Londoner who is chosen by Galahad as his Kingsman candidate. Alex Nikolov portrays a young Eggsy.
Colin Firth as Harry Hart / Galahad, a veteran Kingsman agent who takes Eggsy under his wing.
Samuel L. Jackson as Richmond Valentine, a billionaire philanthropist who speaks with a lisp and has a weak stomach for blood and violence.
Mark Strong as Merlin, a senior Kingsman agent and trainer.
Michael Caine as Chester King / Arthur, the leader of the Kingsman organisation.
Sophie Cookson as Roxanne "Roxy" Morton, a trainee who befriends Eggsy. She later becomes the new Lancelot.
Sofia Boutella as Gazelle, Valentine's amputee henchwoman with bladed prosthetic legs.
Samantha Womack as Michelle Unwin, Eggsy's mother.
Geoff Bell as Dean, Eggsy's stepfather and Michelle's abusive second husband.
Edward Holcroft as Charlie Hesketh, Arthur's Kingsman candidate and Eggsy's primary rival during the training program.
Mark Hamill as Professor James Arnold, an academic from Imperial College London and an expert in climate change.
Jack Davenport as Lancelot, a Kingsman agent who obtained his title in the mission that took the life of Eggsy's father.
Jack Cutmore-Scott as Rufus Saville, a Kingsman candidate.
Lily Travers as Lady Sophie
Richard Brake as The Interrogator, a man working for Lady Sophie. He is impersonated by Galahad and Arthur, while interrogating Eggsy, Roxy and Charlie.
Andrei Lenart as Arctic Guard

Jonno Davies portrays Lee Unwin, Eggsy's father and a former Kingsman candidate who sacrificed himself to save Hart.Hanna Alström portrays Princess Tilde, and Bjørn Floberg plays the Swedish Prime Minister. Nicholas Banks, Nicholas Agnew, Rowan Polonski and Tom Prior portray, respectively, Digby Barker, Nathaniel, Piers and Hugo Higins, the other four Kingsman candidates. Fiona Hampton plays Amelia, a Kingsman agent who pretends to be a candidate in order to set up the first test.

ProductionThe project originated when Mark Millar and Vaughn were at a bar discussing spy movies, lamenting that the genre had become too serious over the years and deciding to do "a fun one." To have the time to make the film, Vaughn had to opt out of directing X-Men: Days of Future Past, which he called "a really tough decision".He reasoned that if he did not do it, "somebody else ... [would] wake up and do a fun spy movie. Then I will have written a bloody screenplay that no one will want to make." Colin Firth joined the cast to lead the film on 29 April 2013.It was initially reported in 2013 that Leonardo DiCaprio was in talks to play a villain, although Vaughn himself later denied that he was ever considered stating that he came as close to playing the role "as I am to becoming the Pope." In September 2013, Vaughn cast Sophie Cookson for the female lead, preferring a newcomer over more obvious candidates like Emma Watson and Bella Heathcote. Mark Hamill was cast in a cameo role as Professor James Arnold, a reference to his character in the source comic book being named "Mark Hamill".

Filming
Principal photography began 6 October 2013 in Deepcut, Surrey, on a budget reported to be one-third of the $200 million budget of Skyfall.

The Alexandra Road Estate in Camden was used for Eggsy's home area, and some scenes were filmed at Imperial College London. The Black Prince Pub in Kennington, South London, was used for various fight scenes and the car chase.Savile Row in Mayfair was also employed as a location and the exterior of tailors Huntsman, which provided the clothes.

While rumours of several celebrity cameo parts were published, including Adele, Elton John, Lady Gaga, andDavid Beckham, none of these rumours proved to be true.

MusicMain article: Kingsman: The Secret Service (soundtrack)

In May 2014, it was reported that Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson would be composing the music for the film, while in July it was announced that Gary Barlow would be writing the music for the film. Additionally, a song from Take That's seventh studio album III, "Get Ready for It", played during the end credits.

ReleaseThe film's premiere was held in London, with director Vaughn and stars Firth, Egerton, and Strong attending, and Take That performing the film's theme live. A regional premiere was held in Glasgow at exactly the same time as the London event, and live footage was streamed from the premiere to Glasgow. Mark Millar also hosted a charity screening of the film ahead of its release in Glasgow to raise money for his old school, St. Bartholomews.

The film opened in the United Kingdom on 29 January 2015. In the United States 20th Century Fox planned to release the film on 14 November 2014, but later delayed it to 6 March 2015. It was later moved up to 24 October 2014,before being delayed again to 13 February 2015.

The film was released in most of Latin America and Indonesia, with the action scene set in the church removed. The scene, considered vital by the director and film critics, was excised almost completely, leaving only the set-up and immediate consequences.

Terminator Genisys is a 2015 American science fiction action film, directed by Alan Taylor and written by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier. The fifth installment in the Terminator franchise, the film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, reprising his role as the eponymous character, along with Jason Clarke,Emilia Clarke, and Jai Courtney. The film's plot follows soldier Kyle Reese(Courtney) in the war against Skynet, an artificial general intelligence seeking to destroy the human race. In a sequence of events similar to 1984's The Terminator, John Connor (Jason Clarke), leader of the Human Resistance, sends Reese back in time from 2029 to 1984 to protect Connor's mother,Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke), who is being targeted by Skynet. However, once Reese arrives in the past he discovers the timeline has been altered, and Sarah has been raised by a reprogrammed Terminator, known as the Guardian (Schwarzenegger), since her childhood.

Megan Ellison and her production company Annapurna Pictures acquired the rights to the franchise in May 2011, and the following year the production of another installment in the series was set up in collaboration with Skydance Productions, owned by her brother David Ellison. The Ellisons made sure to ask for the input of Terminator creator James Cameron, hoping to create something that would get closer to the spirit of the original film and sequelTerminator 2: Judgment Day. Principal photography occurred mostly in New Orleans, while also taking place in the on-screen setting of San Francisco. Six companies handled the film's visual effects, while the prosthetic make-up and animatronics were created by Legacy Effects, a studio founded by the alumni of Terminator veteran Stan Winston.

The film was released by Paramount Pictures on July 1, 2015, in standard digital format, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D. Terminator Genisys was not well-received by critics, who found the story and performances unsatisfactory, though Schwarzenegger's return to the franchise was praised. It has grossed over $440 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of the franchise after Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and is intended to be the first of a trilogy.

In 2029, Human Resistance leader John Connor (Jason Clarke) launches a massive final offensive against Skynet, anartificial general intelligence system seeking to eliminate the human race. Before the Resistance wins the offensive, Skynet activates a time machine and sends back a T-800 Terminator to 1984 to kill John's mother, Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke). John's right-hand man, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), volunteers to travel back in time to protect her. As Kyle floats in the machine's magnetic field, he witnesses John being attacked by another Resistance soldier (Matt Smith). He then has visions from his childhood about events in 2017.

Upon arrival in 1984, Skynet's T-800 is disabled by Sarah and the Guardian (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a reprogrammed T-800 sent to protect her when she was nine years old. Kyle arrives a short time later and is immediately attacked by a T-1000 (Lee Byung-hun). Sarah and the Guardian join Kyle and destroy the T-1000 using acid. Sarah and the Guardian reveal they have constructed a makeshift time machine similar to Skynet's, and that Sarah plans to travel to 1997 – the year Skynet becomes self-aware. Realizing the timeline has been altered, Kyle is convinced that the future has changed due to the warning he received in his childhood vision. He persuades Sarah to travel to 2017 instead to stop Skynet.

In 2017, Kyle and Sarah materialize in the middle of a busy San Francisco highway and are apprehended by city police. While being treated for injuries, Sarah and Kyle learn that Skynet is called "Genisys", a soon-to-be-unveiled global operating system that is being embraced by the public. John Connor appears and rescues Sarah and Kyle, but the Guardian appears and immediately shoots John, revealing that John is an advanced T-3000 Terminator. While Kyle was being sent back through time, a T-5000 (Smith), the physical embodiment of Skynet disguised as a member of the Resistance, attacked John and transformed him into a Terminator. John was tasked with ensuring Cyberdyne Systems' survival and traveled back in time to assist them with the development of Genisys.

Able to escape to a safe house, Sarah, Kyle, and the Guardian make final preparations to destroy Cyberdyne's Genisys mainframe. They head toward Cyberdyne's headquarters with the T-3000 in close pursuit. During an airborne chase, the Guardian divebombs into the T-3000's helicopter, causing it to crash. The T-3000 survives the crash and enters the Cyberdyne complex, where it advances the countdown from 13 hours to 15 minutes. Kyle, Sarah and the Guardian plant bombs at key points in the facility while holding off the T-3000.

In a final battle, the Guardian traps the T-3000 in the magnetic field of a prototype time machine. Both are destroyed, but just prior to the explosion, the T-3000 throws the remains of the Guardian into an experimental vat of mimetic polyalloylocated nearby. Kyle and Sarah reach a bunker beneath the facility, and the explosion sets off the bombs, successfully preventing Genisys from coming online. The Guardian appears, upgraded with mimetic polyalloy components similar to that of the T-1000, and helps them find a way out of the debris.

The trio travels to Kyle's childhood home, where Kyle tells his younger self about Genisys and instructs him to repeat the warning in a mirror – critical insurance that the events lead to their arrival in 2017. Sarah, Kyle and the Guardian drive off into the country. A mid-credits scene reveals that the system core of Genisys was located in a protected subterranean chamber and has survived the explosion.

Cast and charactersArnold Schwarzenegger as Guardian/The Terminator, a reprogrammed T-800 (Model 101) Terminator sent back in time from an unknown origin to protect Sarah as a little girl. He becomes a father figure for Sarah, who calls him "Pops".
Brett Azar as young T-800 (body double), the Terminator sent back to 1984 to kill Sarah in theoriginal timeline.He was also the body double for the Guardian in 1973 in a flashback scene as well as serving as one of Schwarzenegger's surviving stunt doubles.
Jason Clarke as John Connor, the son of Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese. John Connor leads the Resistance to destroy Skynet, but he is compromised in a final battle and transformed into the T-3000, an advancednanotechnological cyborg programmed to serve Skynet and ensure Cyberdyne Systems' survival.
Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor. Raised and trained by the Guardian, Sarah gains inside knowledge of Skynet and future events. She works with Kyle Reese and the Guardian to destroy Skynet before the system comes online.
Willa Taylor, the film's director's daughter, as young Sarah Connor.
Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese, John Connor's right-hand in the Resistance. Kyle Reese is sent back through time to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor. A twist of events changes plans, and he ends up fighting alongside her and the Guardian.
Bryant Prince as a young Kyle Reese.
Lee Byung-hun as T-1000, an advanced shapeshifting terminator composed of liquid metal, which is sent back in time to assassinate Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese in 1984.
J. K. Simmons as Detective O'Brien, a SFPD (formerlyLAPD) police detective who investigates the time travel events he witnessed in 1984 and assists Sarah and Kyle when they arrive in 2017.
Wayne Bastrup as young O'Brien.
Matt Smith as Alex, an advanced T-5000 Terminator, serving as the physical embodiment of Skynet, who has time travelled to infiltrate the Resistance in 2029. Smith also portrays a holographic representation of Genisys/Skynet in 2017.
Ian Etheridge as 10-year-old Skynet.
Nolan Gross as 12/14-year-old Skynet.
Seth Meriwether as 18-year-old Skynet.
Dayo Okeniyi as Danny Dyson,son of Miles Dyson and president of Cyberdyne Systems.
Courtney B. Vance as Miles Dyson,CEO of Cyberdyne Systems.
Michael Gladis as Lieutenant Matias, a SFPD police lieutenant.
Sandrine Holt as Detective Cheung, a SFPD police detective
Gregory Alan Williams as Detective Harding, a SFPD police detective
Otto Sanchez as Detective Timmons, a SFPD police detective
Matty Ferraro as Agent Janssen, a DHS agent.
Griff Furst as Agent Burke, a DHS agent.
Aaron V. Williamson as the Refugee, the Terminator who corners the young Kyle Reese in the original timeline.
Douglas Smith as Eric Thompson, one of the hospital medics who treat Sarah and Kyle.
Afemo Omilami as Major General Justin Perry, one of John Connor's lieutenants in the Resistance.
Teri Wyble as Mariam, a female Resistance soldier.
Mark Adam as Kyle's father
Kerry O'Malley as Kyle's mother

Production
Development
While Terminator Salvation was intended to begin a new trilogy, production on a fifth film was put on hold because of legal issues with franchise owner The Halcyon Company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2009. In an effort to avoid bankruptcy, Halcyon later decided to sell the rights to the franchise and claimed the property was valued at $70 million.On February 8, 2010, the franchise auctioned for $29.5 million to Pacificor, a hedge fund company who was the largest creditor in Halcyon's bankruptcy proceedings. The deal erased Halcyon's debts owed to Pacificor and guaranteed Halcyon $5 million for each additional Terminator sequel produced to pay off other outstanding debts.Pacificor sold the franchise again in May 2010.

In August 2010, Hannover House announced plans to develop a 3D animated film entitled Terminator 3000. Pacificor responded with a cease and desist letter and declined a $20–30 million offer from Hannover for the rights to produce the film. In February 2011, Universal Studios considered investing in a fifth Terminator film, with Arnold Schwarzenegger returning to the title role, Fast Five director Justin Lin behind the helm, and Chris Morgan as the screenwriter. In late April 2011, a proposed Terminator package which dropped Morgan and added producer Robert W. Cort was circulated among Universal Studios, Sony, Lionsgate, and CBS Films.

The package was eventually picked up by Megan Ellison and her production company Annapurna Pictures in May 2011, after they won an auction for the rights to make at least two more Terminator films, including Terminator 5. The deal was finalized on December 4, 2012. The final price was reportedly less than the auction pledge, because new copyright laws had raised concerns that the rights would revert to James Cameron in 2019. Ellison's brother, David Ellison, and others from his Skydance Productions company signed on to co-produce the film. Lin had to back away from the project because of his involvement in Fast & Furious 6. Two screenwriters – Laeta Kalogridis of Shutter Island and Patrick Lussier of Drive Angry – were commissioned to write the screenplay in January 2013. Kalogridis and Lussier initially turned down the project three times, but were convinced to write the screenplay by James Cameron.

Paramount Pictures, which has a financing and distribution deal with Skydance, was confirmed as the distributor in June 2013, when they and the producers co-announced a release date of June 26, 2015. Rian Johnson, Denis Villeneuve, and Ang Lee were each approached to take over the directing role from the departed Lin, but eventually Thor: The Dark World director Alan Taylor was selected in September 2013. In January 2014, Megan Ellison announced that her production company was no longer financing the film. Instead, Skydance and Paramount would provide funding, though Megan would retain credit as an executive producer.

After she acquired the rights to the franchise, Megan Ellison asked James Cameron for input on the new film. Cameron later held several meetings with David Ellison, where they discussed Schwarzenegger's role and how to stay true to the original T-800 character. On August 6, 2014, Schwarzenegger posted a picture to his Twitter account of himself sitting in a production chair on set. The picture revealed the correct spelling of the film's title Terminator Genisys.

CastingOn June 13, 2013, Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would return for his fourth film as the Terminator/T-800. By early November 2013, Garrett Hedlund and Tom Hardy were under consideration for the role of Kyle Reese. In November 2013, the choice for Sarah Connor was narrowed to Emilia Clarke, Tatiana Maslany, and Brie Larson, and Clarke won the role in December. The same month, Jason Clarke entered talks to play John Connor.In February 2014, the studio considered Jai Courtney and Boyd Holbrook for Reese, and later that month Courtney was confirmed for the role. J. K. Simmons began talks for the role of Detective O'Brien in March. Announcements in late March said that Dayo Okeniyiwould play Danny Dyson, and that Lee Byung-hun, Michael Gladis and Sandrine Holt joined the cast, Lee in a lead role. Matt Smith joined the cast in May, and Douglas Smith joined in June.

WritingLaeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier were invited to do the script while working on another project with David Ellison and Dana Goldberg. Both only accepted to do a Terminator film once James Cameron, a personal friend of Kalogridis who worked with her in Avatar, gave them his blessing. The starting point on the script was to retain Schwarzenegger as a central character, unlike the Star Trek reboot bringing Leonard Nimoy as an older Spock with a minor role. Thus they had to figure out how to write in the actor now being 67, and followed a suggestion of Cameron regarding the Terminator living tissue exterior being vulnerable to ageing, and their own idea of SkyNet sending a Terminator after an infant Sarah Connor. Then they extended to featuring the core characters of Kyle, Sarah, and John Connor despite each being from a different time period. While the writers reported to have enjoyed Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, they opted to escape said movie's suggestion that Judgement Day is inevitable due to a causal loop, instead considering that all Terminator timelines exist simultaneously in a multiverse. To properly map out the different timelines and help write the plot, Kalogridis and Lussier had five whiteboards "covering every wall in the office". Eventually they got to a central plot thread, where the SkyNet of one universe, which had knowledge of being defeated in various timelines, sent the T-5000 to the Genisystimeline hoping to ultimately beat the humans by "having the best weapon that humans have", John Connor. The first draft of the screenplay, used to attract a director, was delivered on July 2013.

FilmingPrincipal photography began on April 21, 2014 in New Orleans, and ended on August 6, 2014 in San Francisco.Legacy Effects, successor to Stan Winston Studio, created the Terminator robotic and make-up effects, led by John Rosengrant who had worked on the previous four Terminator films. However, Jeff Dawn, lead make-up artist on the first three installments, did not return.

The production tried to match the cinematography of the first two Terminator films. Sequences set in the year 1984 favored blue, green and black tones to match the look of The Terminator, while scenes set during the future war against the machines were modeled after similar scenes in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.[66] Fictional Cyberdyne/Genisys headquarters were based on the headquarters of Oracle Corporation, which was founded by the Ellisons' father Larry Ellison.

Visual effectsVisual effects supervisor Janek Sirrs oversaw approximately 1,200 visual effects shots generated at Double Negative,Moving Picture Company, Industrial Light & Magic, Lola VFX, One of Us, and Method Studios. Double Negative was the leading company, with 900 shots that included the T-1000, T-5000, and T-3000 Terminators, the helicopter and bus chase sequences, and the Cyberdyne explosion. The complexity of the T-3000, which had to be constantly shown as a living mass of nanomites and had its transformation in successive layers instead of the T-1000's straight blend, at times would require. 20 hours to render.[clarification needed] The mechanical cells aimed to resemble the material on stealth aircraft, with a result described as "more matte than metal", resembling a slightly iridescent ceramic carbon. Given that the T-3000 was a man transformed into a robot, the design aimed for a human shape streamlined for better combat efficiency. The T-1000 was built out of fluid simulations, with the environments being filmed with high-resolution cameras to ensure proper reflection. Its acid destruction was realistically depicted following studies on acids burning metal and ingots of aluminum. Double Negative's artists shot many reference plates of San Francisco, including scans of the Golden Gate Bridge, to ensure the city was recreated properly in the bus and helicopter chases.

MPC's most elaborate effect was the digital recreation of the original Terminator, which required 12 months for 35 shots which were completed just 30 minutes before the final print was submitted to the studio. Performance capture was only used for facial animation, as Schwarzenegger was scanned reading his lines. The studio's artists studied various archive footage of Schwarzenegger, focusing mostly on The Terminator and Pumping Iron, and were given a plaster cast of him made in 1984. On-set, the fight between both Terminators at a time had Schwarzenegger and Brett Azar, a bodybuilder chosen for his physical similarity to the actor in 1984, and on more dangerous scenes Azar and a stunt double, requiring effects artists to replace the face of the Guardian as well. MPC also handled the future battle, adding set extensions, and Skynet robots and vehicles, based on the practical models made by Legacy Effects. Industrial Light & Magic did both the opening scene where San Francisco is wiped out during Judgement Day, which drew inspiration from the Los Angeles nuclear destruction of Terminator 2, and the Terminator vision.

For the IMAX 3D release, the film was remastered using IMAX DMR technology to create the 3D effects and high resolution film print.

The One 2001 American science fiction action-martial arts film

The One is a 2001 American science fiction action-martial arts film written and directed by James Wong. The film stars Jet Li, Delroy Lindo, Jason Statham and Carla Gugino. The film was released in the United States on November 2, 2001.

Gabriel Yulaw (Jet Li), once an officer of the "Multiverse Authority" (MVA) that polices interdimensional travel (via detecting wormholes), seeks to hunt down all variations of himself in alternate universes. By killing all 124 of his other selves (becoming the last version) and absorbing their life energies, he believes he will become an immortal godlike being called "The One". Yulaw is briefly captured by MVA agents Rodecker (Delroy Lindo) and Funsch (Jason Statham), only to escape from captivity during the trial sentencing him to life in the Stygian penal colony in the Hades universe.

The last known alternate, Gabriel (Gabe) Law, works in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. For two years he has been experiencing increases in strength, speed and mental ability, but neither he nor his wife, T.K. Law (Carla Gugino), can understand why. While transporting a prisoner for the Sheriff's Department, Gabe "feels" Yulaw's presence just before he attempts to kill Gabe. Yulaw escapes, but is followed by Gabe, who inhumanly leaps a very high wall. Landing on the other side, Gabe is shot and wounded by Yulaw. As Yulaw approaches Gabe to finish him off, they are interrupted by Rodecker and Funsch.

Gabe realizes Yulaw is identical to him in every way. Not knowing about interdimensional travel, Yulaw's appearance is shocking. After checking into the hospital, Gabe feels Yulaw's presence again. There is another fight, which Rodecker and Funsch again foil. Yulaw deters them from shooting him because if he is killed, then Gabe would then be left as the only "One". Dressed alike and identical in every way, Gabe and Yulaw's battle confuses Gabe's police colleagues. Both Gabe and Yulaw manage to escape the hospital.

Rodecker is faced with a dilemma: they have to capture Yulaw, but they cannot kill him or allow Gabe to be killed because the other one will become "The One". Funsch insists that Yulaw, as the instigator, must be dealt with in a more aggressive manner. Rodecker makes a fateful decision to "go way off procedure" and split the team. Rodecker pursues Yulaw and is killed. Funsch catches up with Gabe and tells him about the multiverse and why he has become stronger. Yulaw finds Gabe's residence where TK, believing it is Gabe, attempts to protect him, but she senses he is not her husband. Gabe arrives, only to have Yulaw force him to watch while he kills her. Funsch finds Gabe and they team up to find Yulaw at the next wormhole.

Yulaw, Gabe and Funsch arrive at the industrial plant, where the final battle between Gabe and Yulaw takes place. When Gabe eventually wins, all three are caught in a wormhole and taken back to the MVA headquarters in the Alpha Universe. Yulaw is transported immediately to the prison colony universe after a last attempt to switch places with Gabe. The MVA then prepares to send Gabe back to his own universe where he will be arrested and put in prison for the murders Yulaw committed, but Agent Funsch instead sends him to a universe similar to Gabe's past via another wormhole, after recalling an earlier conversation Gabe told him about the events which led up to him meeting his wife.

Meanwhile, Yulaw, now in the Stygian penal colony, declares he will still become the One; standing at the top of a Zigguratin the Hades universe, Yulaw battles hundreds of fighters as the credits roll.

CastJet Li as Gabriel Yulaw and Gabe Law
Jason Statham as MVA Agent Evan Funsch
Delroy Lindo as MVA Agent Harry Rodecker and Gas Station Attendant
Carla Gugino as T.K. Law and Massie Walsh
James Morrison as Officer Bobby Aldrich and 'A' World Inmate #1
Dylan Bruno as Officer Yates
Richard Steinmetz as Officer D'Antoni
Cynthia Pinot as Girl With Briefcase
Steve Rankin as MVA Supervisor
Tucker Smallwood as Prison Warden
Archie Kao as Woo
Doug Savant as Cop

ProductionOriginally the film was to have starred The Rock, before Li assumed the lead role.

The hospital scenes were filmed at the North Hollywood Medical Center.

The documentary Jet Li is 'The One' on the special features section on the DVD explains that both Gabriel Yulaw and "Gabe" Law use martial arts that represent their personalities. Yulaw uses Xingyiquan (The Shape-Will Fist), characterized by aggressive linear movements, while Gabe uses Baguazhang (The Eight Trigram Palms) which uses subtle, circular movements. These martial arts are confirmed by their own personalities as Yulaw is very direct, not caring whom he hurts, while Gabe believes life goes in a circle, perfectly balanced.

Background informationAs part of the promotion for the movie, there was an official website for the fictional Multiverse Authority called the "MVA Mainframe". Although the site is now defunct, it provided detailed background material on the storyline and some of the characters, including some that were not in the film. Below is the information from the site.

History of the Multiverse AuthorityThe Multiverse Authority (MVA) was created in the "Alpha Universe". A prominent U.S. Senator and member of the Senate Parallel Universe Technology Committee named Marcos Rodríguez championed the original Quantum Tunneling Research Project and was instrumental in raising the necessary funds. However, shortly after the first successful Quantum Tunnel jump, Rodríguez was indicted on charges of campaign finance fraud and accepting kickbacks from government contractors. Before he could be brought to trial, Rodríguez was able to access the prototype Quantum Tunneling Device and jump into the "Beta Universe". Due to the infancy of the technology, by the time he could be tracked, Rodríguez had already arranged the death of his Beta Universe "parallel universe version", also a U.S. Senator, and had assumed his position.

A former Texas Border Patrol agent named Kyle Browning was hired to head security for the Quantum Tunneling Project and accompanied researchers on many of the first jumps. When one of the researchers made an unauthorized jump to escape from a tax fraud scandal, Kyle Browning successfully retrieved her.

The MVA was formed to address the problems of the new technology and the criminals who were abusing it. Kyle Browning was made Head Field Agent and set in place many of the practices and procedures still used in the tracking and apprehension of criminals in other universes. He also coined the term "parallel universe retrieval", meaning not just the capture of criminals, but the act of escorting them back to the Alpha Universe for trial.

Some time after its creation, the MVA appealed to all major technology producing Alpha Universe countries to contribute personnel and resources to the growing organization.

The MVA's basic mission is to prevent Quantum Tunneling from becoming a tool of crime and to apprehend all those who use it to escape justice and/or alter the affairs of parallel universes.

Field agents of the MVA are divided into two interrelated groups. One group specializes in simple retrievals of Alpha Universe criminals who have used Quantum Tunneling to escape to another universe. The other group tracks criminals who commit "inter-universal crimes" such as smuggling or the termination of one's parallel universe versions.

Reception
The One grossed $19,112,404 (an average of $6,604 per screen) in its opening weekend in North America, opening at #2, and eventually grossed $43,905,746. In other territories, the film grossed $28,783,380, making for a worldwide total of $72,689,126.

The film received mostly negative reviews. Based on 85 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes as of April 2015, the film has an overall approval rating from critics of 14%, with an average score of 3.9/10.

SPL: Sha Po Lang (Chinese: 殺破狼, released in the United States as Kill Zone) 2005 Hong Kong action film

SPL: Sha Po Lang (Chinese: 殺破狼, released in the United States as Kill Zone) is a 2005 Hong Kong action film written and directed by Wilson Yip, and starring Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung and Simon Yam. The film was released in Hong Kong on 18 November 2005.

Yam portrays a retiring police detective who resorts to the use of questionable methods in order to catch Wong Po (Hung), a ruthless triadboss.

The title Sha Po Lang refers to three words derived from Chinese astrologythat each represent a different star capable of good or evil depending on their position in the heavens.

Chan Kwok-chung (Simon Yam), a Hong Kong police inspector, has dedicated his career to putting Wong Po (Sammo Hung), a notorious triadboss, behind bars. While escorting a witness with damning evidence of Wong's wrongdoings to court, Chan's car is rammed at high speed by another car driven by Jack (Wu Jing), a ruthless assassin hired by Wong. The impact severely injures the witness and his wife, whom Jack proceeds to kill after getting down from his car. The witness' young daughter, however, is spared. Chan survives too, but has a piece of glass stuck in the back of his head. When the glass is removed, the doctor notices a tumour in Chan's brain and informs him that he does not have long to live. Chan becomes even more determined to bring down Wong Po, using any means necessary.

Three years later, Ma Kwun (Donnie Yen), a police officer from another precinct, is assigned to replace Chan, who is going to retire soon, and take over leadership of Chan's team, composed of Wah, Sum and Lok. All the three men are very protective of Chan, who has since adopted the slain witness' daughter.

An electronics shop owner brings to the police station a video tape of Wong Po murdering an undercover agent planted by Chan in the triad. In the video, Wong is seen swinging a golf club repeatedly, allegedly at the agent's face, but does not kill the latter, and instead allows one of his men to finish him off. Chan and his colleagues decide to alter the tape, intimidate the shop owner into accusing Wong Po of being the murderer, and eliminate the real killer (Wong Po's henchman, the one caught on tape shooting the undercover agent).

Ma Kwun, who had once beaten up a drug trafficker so badly that the latter has become mentally handicapped, has vowed to abstain from using questionable means in his career as a policeman, unlike Chan and the rest of the team. He is upset when he sees Chan and his colleagues resorting to those "dirty" methods to frame Wong Po for murder. He witnesses Chan and the three men cornering Wong Po's henchman (the one who killed the undercover agent) and pushing the latter off a building, and confronts the four of them, resulting in a brief fight. Despite their disagreements, Ma still assists Chan and the team later in the arrest of Wong Po, which culminates in a brawl in the lobby of a department store with the rotund crime lord.

The squad receives a warning that all of them will not make it to see the next day if they get out of the police station that night. Ignoring the threat, Lok goes to buy a gun to serve as Wong Po's "murder weapon", but is trapped in an enclosed area and ends up getting killed by a knife wielding Jack. Later that night, Jack sneaks up on Wah and Sum and stabs them to death. Ma Kwun rushes there to save them but arrives too late. Before dying, Wah confesses to Ma that he, Sum and Lok had stolen money from Wong Po (when they busted one of Wong's drug operations earlier) to help Chan raise his adopted daughter, and were targeted for retaliation by Wong. Back at the police station, Wong Po's men show up and give a copy of the original video tape to Chan's superior, Cheung Chun-fei. Cheung discovers that Chan had tampered with evidence to frame Wong Po for murder, so he releases Wong and goes to confront Chan. However, with help from an elderly policeman called Uncle Ba, Chan hides inside the washroom until Cheung and the others have left.

Later that night, Chan goes to Wong Po's office alone to return the stolen money. He attempts to catch the crime lord off guard and shoots a few goons but is eventually overpowered by Jack, who knocks the revolver out of Chan's hand and then thrusts his knife through it.

In the meantime, Ma Kwun has a heated argument with Cheung over the handling of the case and he turns in his badge and gun. He receives a call from Wong Po, who tells him that he has taken Chan captive. Ma encounters Jack in a back alley. Armed with only a baton, Ma engages in intense martial arts combat with the knife expert. Jack wrestles the baton away from Ma's hands, but Ma manages to eviscerate Jack with his own knife.

Ma then heads up to Wong Po's office and sees Chan strung up and unable to move. He fights with the crime lord and seemingly kills Wong when he backdrops the latter onto a tall display of glasses and bottles. Ma sits down at the bar and starts to pour himself a drink. Chan, still strung up, starts to speak to Ma. However, Wong suddenly gets up and throws Ma out of the window. Ma lands on the roof of the car in which Wong's wife and baby son are in, crushing them, and all three of them are killed instantly. When Wong gazes down at Ma's body, he notices the car underneath and recognises the number plate. He slumps down and starts sobbing, broken with grief over his actions.

In the final scene, Chan and his adopted daughter are seen on the beach, with the girl playing near the shore. Chan finally succumbs to his tumour and dies.

CastDonnie Yen as Inspector Ma Kwun
Simon Yam as Inspector Chan Kwok-chung
Sammo Hung as Wong Po
Wu Jing as Jack
Liu Kai-chi as Inspector Lo Kwun-wah
Danny Summer as Inspector Kwok Tze-sum
Ken Chang as Inspector Lee Wai-lok
Austin Wai as Cheung Chun-fei
Timmy Hung as Drug Trafficker
Chan Tat-chee as Uncle Ba
Liang Jingke as Wong Po's wife
Vincent Sze as Chan Wai
Tanigaki Kenji as Wong Po's bodyguard
Lau Ching-lam as Hoi-yee
Poon Mei-kei as Kwok Tze-sum's daughter
Yuen Kin-leung as Lagoon Monster
Chris Tsui Wai as Wong Po's bodyguard
So Tung as Wong Po's bodyguard
Au Hin-wai as Wong Po's lawyer
Jeff Kam as Bottle-throwing Gangster

Box officeSPL: Sha Po Lang opened in Hong Kong on 18 November 2005. In its first three days it grossed HK$2,166,088. It stayed in the number one position at the Hong Kong box office until 6 December, and eventually grossed HK$7,425,473 in its entire run.

Predator 1987 American science fiction action film

Predator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the leader of an elite special forces team, who are on a mission to rescue hostages from guerrilla territory in Central America. Kevin Peter Hall co-stars as the titular antagonist, a technologically advanced form of extraterrestrial life secretly stalking and hunting the group. Predator was written by Jim and John Thomas in 1985, under the working title of Hunter. Filming began in April 1986 and creature effects were devised by Stan Winston.

The film's budget was around $15 million. Released in the United States on June 12, 1987, it grossed $98,267,558. Initial critical reaction to Predator was negative, with criticism focusing on the thin plot. However, in subsequent years critics' attitudes toward the film warmed, and it has appeared on a number of "best of" lists. Two sequels, Predator 2 (1990) and Predators(2010), as well as two crossover films with the Alien franchise, Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), have been produced. Another entry in the series directed by Shane Black is in the works at 20th Century Fox.

Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer and his six-man team, consisting of himself, operators Mac Eliot, Billy Sole, and Blain Cooper, ordnance expert Jorge "Poncho" Ramírez and radioman Rick Hawkins, are tasked by the CIA with spearheading the rescue of an official held hostage by insurgents in Val Verde. Agent George Dillon, an old friend of Schaefer's, is assigned to supervise. The team is taken to a remote jungle and begins the mission.

They soon discover the wreckage of another chopper and several skinned corpses, whom Schaefer identifies as U.S Army Special Forces he once trained. Pressing on, the team reaches the insurgent camp and kills every guerrilla, including a Soviet intelligence officer searching through top-secret CIA documents. Dillon, confronted by a suspicious Schaefer, admits the mission was a setup to retrieve intelligence from captured operatives and that the dead unit disappeared weeks earlier in a failed rescue. Holding prisoner a captured female guerrilla named Anna, the group proceeds to extraction, unaware that they are being observed by an invisible entity using thermal imaging.

Hawkins chases a fleeing Anna when they are both suddenly confronted by the creature. The unarmed Anna is spared, but Hawkins is swiftly killed and dragged away. Schaefer organizes a manhunt for his body, during which Cooper is killed by the creature's plasma weapon, enraging Mac. An ensuing firefight fails to draw out the creature, so the unit regroups and questions Anna, learning that their stalker is an unknown creature who has been killing humans for sport for decades, active only in the hottest years. The next day an attempt to entrap the creature fails, leaving Poncho badly wounded. Mac and Dillon attempt pursuit, but Mac is ambushed by the Predator and killed by its plasma cannon. Dillon sees it in the trees and shoots wildly, but the Predator returns fire and takes off his arm. It then impales him with a set of blades on its forearm.

The survivors try to escape, but the Predator catches up, killing Billy, who had sought to challenge it directly, blasting the injured Poncho in the head, and wounding Schaefer. Realizing the creature targets only hostile prey, Schaefer sends Anna to the chopper alone and unarmed. While being pursued by the Predator, Schaefer slides down a hill into a river, goes over a waterfall and ends up crawling through a patch of mud, only for the Predator to catch up to him, emerging from the water and allowing Schaefer to finally see his hidden enemy. The Predator, though standing a few feet from Schaefer, does not see him and moves on. This helps him realize that the mud he is now covered in is acting as camouflage by cooling his skin and blocking his body's heat signature from the Predator's thermal sensor. Now seeking to avenge his men, Dutch uses his knowledge of jungle warfare to craft a series of traps. Covered in mud and armed with improvised weapons, he lures the Predator in with a war cry.

Utilizing his preparations, Dutch beats the Predator at its own game, disabling its cloaking device and inflicting minor injuries. Nevertheless, the Predator finally corners him. Acknowledging Schaefer as a worthy foe, the Predator discards its equipment and challenges him to hand-to-hand combat, where it still has the advantage. After being brutally beaten, Dutch narrowly defeats the creature by using a counterweight to crush it. He asks the dying Predator what it is, but the alien merely repeats his question back to him before activating a self-destruct device on its left wrist, playing back a sinister recording of Billy's laughter as Dutch flees. Dutch takes cover just before the self-destruct device explodes in a mushroom cloud, damaging the electronics of the rescue helicopter. Dutch, the last man standing, is picked up shortly afterwards by his commander, General Phillips, and finds Anna in the helicopter.

Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger as Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer
Carl Weathers as George Dillon
Elpidia Carrillo as Anna Gonsalves
Bill Duke as Mac Eliot
Jesse Ventura as Blain Cooper
Sonny Landham as Billy Sole
Richard Chaves as Jorge "Poncho" Ramírez
Shane Black as Rick Hawkins
R. G. Armstrong as Major General Homer Phillips
Kevin Peter Hall as The Predator / helicopter pilot
Peter Cullen as The Predator (voice, uncredited)
Sven-Ole Thorsen as Soviet military adviser

Production
DevelopmentFor a few months, following the release of Rocky IV, a joke was making rounds in Hollywood. Since Rocky Balboa had run out of earthly opponents, he would have to fight an alien if a fifth installment of his boxing series were to be made. Screenwriters Jim and John Thomas took the inspiration from the joke and wrote a screenplay based on it. The Thomas script for Predator was originally titled Hunter. It was picked up by 20th Century Fox in 1985, and turned over to producerJoel Silver who, based on his experience with Commando, decided to turn the science fiction pulp storyline into a big-budget film. Silver enlisted his former boss Lawrence Gordon as co-producer and John McTiernan was hired as director for his first studio film. New Zealand director Geoff Murphy was also considered to direct.

According to the documentaries included on the Region 1 release of the special edition, the original monster suit was vastly different from the final product, designed by Stan Winston. The original monster was a disproportionate, ungainly creature with large yellow eyes and a dog-like head, and it was nowhere near as agile as later portrayed. McTiernan consulted Winston after production became troubled. While on a plane ride to Fox studios alongside Aliens director James Cameron, Winston sketched monster ideas. Cameron suggested he had always wanted to see a creature with mandibles, which became part of the Predator's iconic look.

CastingKevin Peter Hall as the Predator
Silver and Gordon first approached Arnold Schwarzenegger with the lead role. To play the elite band of soldiers, both Silver and Gordon, with co-producer John Davis, searched for other larger-than-life men of action. Carl Weathers, who had been memorable as boxerApollo Creed in the Rocky films was their first choice to play Dillon, while professional wrestler and former Navy UDT Jesse Ventura was hired for his formidable physique as Blain. Native Americans Sonny Landham and Richard Chaves, and African-American Bill Duke, who co-starred alongside Schwarzenegger in Commando, provided the ethnic balance. As a favor to writer Shane Black, whose first screenplay had become Silver's blockbuster Lethal Weapon a few months earlier, Silver hired Black to play a supporting role in the film, which also allowed him to watch McTiernan direct.

Jean-Claude Van Damme was originally cast as the Predator creature, the idea being that the physical action star would use his martial arts skills to make the Predator an agile, ninja-esque hunter.When compared to Schwarzenegger, Weathers, and Ventura, actors known for their bodybuilding regimens, it became apparent a more physically imposing man was needed to make the creature appear threatening. Additionally, it was reported that Van Damme constantly complained about the monster suit being too hot, causing him to pass out. He also had allegedly voiced his reservations on numerous occasions regarding the fact he would not be appearing on camera without the suit. Van Damme was removed from the film and replaced by Kevin Peter Hall.

FilmingCommitments by Schwarzenegger delayed the start of filming by several months. The delay gave Silver enough time to secure a minor rewrite from screenwriter David Peoples. Principal photography eventually began in the jungles of Palenque, Mexico, near Villahermosa, Tabasco, during the second week of April 1986, but the film overall was filmed in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Much of the material dealing with the unit's deployment in the jungle was completed in a few short weeks and both Silver and Gordon were pleased by the dailies provided by McTiernan. On Friday, April 25, production halted so that Schwarzenegger could fly to Hyannis Port in a Lear jet chartered by Silver in order to get to his wedding on time. He was married on April 26, 1986, to Maria Shriver, and honeymooned for only three days while the second unit completed additional lensing. The production resumed filming on May 12.

Both director McTiernan and Schwarzenegger lost 25 pounds during the film. Schwarzenegger's weight loss was a professional choice. McTiernan lost the weight because he avoided the food in Mexico due to health concerns. Unlike McTiernan, most of the cast and crew suffered from traveler's diarrhea since the Mexican hotel in which they were living was having problems with the water purification. In an interview, Carl Weathers said the actors would secretly wake up as early as 3:00 a.m. to work out before the day's shooting. Weathers also stated that he would act as if his physique was naturally given to him, and would work out only after the other actors were nowhere to be seen.

According to Schwarzenegger, filming was physically demanding as he had to swim in very cold water and spent three weeks covered in mud for the climactic battle with the alien. In addition, cast and crew endured very cold temperatures in the Mexican jungle that required heat lamps to be on all of the time. Cast and crew filmed on rough terrain that, according to the actor, was never flat, "always on a hill. We stood all day long on a hill, one leg down, one leg up. It was terrible."Schwarzenegger also faced the challenge of working with Kevin Peter Hall, who could not see in the Predator suit. The actor remembers, "so when he's supposed to slap me around and stay far from my face, all of a sudden, whap! There is this hand with claws on it!"Hall stated in an interview that his experience on the film, "wasn't a movie, it was a survival story for all of us." For example, in the scene where the Predator chases Dutch, the water was foul, stagnant and full of leeches. Hall could not see out of the mask and had to rehearse his scenes with it off and then memorize where everything was. The outfit was difficult to wear because it was heavy and off-balance.

The film was dedicated to the memories of Agustin Ytuarte and Federico Ysunza, who were both killed on March 31, 1986, in the crash of Mexicana Flight 940.

Terminator Salvation (also referred to as simply Terminator 4, T4 or TS) 2009 American science fiction action film

Terminator Salvation (also referred to as simply Terminator 4, T4 or TS) is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed by McG and starringChristian Bale and Sam Worthington. It is the fourth installment of theTerminator film series. In a departure from the previous installments, which were set between 1984 and 2004 and used time travel as a key plot element,Salvation is a post-apocalyptic film set in the year 2018 and focuses on the war between Skynet machines and humanity, with the human Resistance fighting against Skynet's killing machines. Bale portrays John Connor, Resistance fighter and central character to the franchise, while Worthington portrays cyborg Marcus Wright. Terminator Salvation also featured Anton Yelchin as a young Kyle Reese, a character first introduced in The Terminator, and the film depicts the origin of the T-800 (Model 101) Terminator.

After a troubled pre-production, with The Halcyon Company acquiring the rights for the franchise from Andrew G. Vajna and Mario Kassar and several writers working on the screenplay, filming began in May 2008 in New Mexicoand ran for 77 days. Terminator Salvation was released on May 21, 2009 in the United States and Canada, followed by early June releases in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Warner Bros. handled the North American release while Columbia Pictures handled the international release. The film grossed over $371 million worldwide.

Terminator Genisys, a reboot of the series via an altered timeline, was released on July 1, 2015.

In 2003, Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter) of Cyberdyne Systems convinces death row inmate Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) to sign over his body for medical research following his execution. One year later, the automated Skynet system is activated, begins to perceive humans as a threat, and eradicates much of humanity with nuclear weapons in the event known as "Judgment Day".

In 2018, John Connor (Christian Bale), leads an attack on a Skynet base, where he discovers human prisoners andschematics for a new type of Terminator, incorporating living tissue. He is the only survivor of the assault after the base is destroyed in a nuclear explosion. Following Connor's departure, Marcus emerges from the base's wreckage and begins walking towards Los Angeles.

John returns to Resistance headquarters, located aboard a nuclear submarine, and tells General Ashdown (Michael Ironside) of his findings. Meanwhile, the Resistance has discovered a radio signal believed to have been an order to shut down Skynet's machines. Working on this intelligence, the human militia plan to launch an offensive against the Skynet base in San Francisco in four days; in response to an intercepted "kill list" created by Skynet with a plan to terminate the Resistance's command staff. John Connor learns he is second on this list, following Kyle Reese. The Resistance leaders are unaware of Kyle's importance, but John knows Kyle will eventually go back in time and become his father. John returns to his base and meets with his pregnant wife Kate (Bryce Dallas Howard) and his second-in-command Barnes (Common).

Arriving at the ruins of Los Angeles, Marcus battles a T-600 Terminator and is saved by Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) and a mute child named "Star" (Jadagrace Berry). Kyle tells Marcus about the war between humanity and Skynet. Hearing John's radio broadcast, the three leave in search of others in the Resistance. They survive an attack at a gas station; yet Kyle, Star, and several other people are taken prisoner.

Later, two Resistance A-10 airplanes are shot down while trying to intercept a machine transport. Marcus locates downed pilot Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood) and they make their way to Connor's base, where Marcus is wounded by a magneticland mine. Attempting to save his life, the Resistance fighters discover that Marcus is, indeed, a cyborg, with a mechanicalendoskeleton and a partially artificial cerebral cortex. Although Marcus believes himself to be human, John thinks that Marcus has been sent to execute him and, therefore, orders him to be killed. Blair helps Marcus escape; during the pursuit, Marcus saves John's life from Skynet's hydrobots and the two make a bargain: Marcus will enter Skynet's headquarters inSan Francisco, to help John rescue Kyle and the other prisoners, if he lets Marcus live.

John pleads with the General to delay the offensive attack, but Ashdown refuses and relieves John of his command. However, the Resistance forces disobey Ashdown's orders and, instead, await John's signal. Marcus enters the base, interfaces with the computer, and disables perimeter defenses so that John can infiltrate the cellblock and release human prisoners. Marcus learns from Skynet (which assumes the form of Dr. Kogan on a screen) that he was created and built to lure John to this base; when the Resistance launches its attack, John will be killed, achieving the goal that Skynet had failed to accomplish so many times. The radio signal that the Resistance received is revealed to have been a ruse, and Skynet uses it, to track down and destroy the command submarine with the Resistance's leaders aboard.

Marcus tears out the hardware linking him to Skynet and assists John in battling the new T-800 (Model 101) Terminator. Marcus is soon outclassed in strength and temporarily disabled until John revives him, but John is mortally wounded during the fight. Marcus jumps the T-800 when it is distracted and defeats it, while John destroys the Skynet base by rigging together several Terminator fuel cells to explode and detonates them as he, Marcus, Kyle, and Star are airlifted out. Kate attempts to save John's life, but his heart is too badly damaged. Marcus offers his own heart for transplant, sacrificing himself to save John. Recovering, John radios to other Resistance fighters that, although this battle has been won, the war is far from over.

CastChristian Bale as John Connor. Director McG deemed Bale "the most credible action star in the world" during development.McG wanted Bale for Marcus, but the actor—even though he "can't really remember why"—wanted to play John, and that led to the character's role getting expanded in rewrites of the script. Bale was the first person to be cast and signed on for the role in November 2007. McG talked extensively with Bale in the UK about the role while the latter was filming The Dark Knight, and they both agreed to proceed. Although a fan of the Terminator series, he was at first uninterested until McG convinced him the story would be character-based and not rely on special effects.They kept working on the story every day, along with Worthington.McG said Bale broke his hand punching a Terminator prop during filming. Bale also spent six to eight hours each day with McG in the editing room to advise the finished product.
Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright, a Skynet human-terminator hybrid experiment. Worthington compared Marcus toDorothy Gale and Alice due to being "this person waking up in another world [who then] tries to find himself".Terminator creator James Cameron personally recommended Worthington (whom he directed in Avatar) to McG.Russell Crowe also recommended him to McG. The director decided Worthington looked tougher than the "great many of today's [waify] young male actors". Worthington recalled Cameron told him "the Terminator to make is the one with the war". Worthington tore his intercostal muscles during the first weeks of filming, but nevertheless insisted on performing his own stunts. McG once expressed interest in casting Christian Bale, Daniel Day-Lewis or Josh Brolinin the part. Brolin did talk to Bale and read a draft of the screenplay, which he found "interesting and dark; ultimately, though, I didn't think it felt right".
Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, a teenage refugee and admirer of John Connor and the Resistance. As portrayed byMichael Biehn in The Terminator, he was sent back in time to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor to ensure the survival of the human race, and fathered John with her. Yelchin said he wanted to portray Kyle as Biehn did and not make him appear weaker because it was a younger version of the character. The difference in his portrayal lies in showing Kyle as intense, but not concentrated until he joins the resistance proper. Yelchin tried to convey Kyle's intensity by focusing on how fast Biehn appeared when running in the original film.
Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams, a "no-nonsense and battle-hardened" pilot of the Resistance who suffers fromsurvivor's guilt and serves as a romantic interest for Marcus. McG characterizes her as continuing the feminine strength that has been prominent throughout the franchise.
Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor, John's wife. Charlotte Gainsbourg was originally set to play the part, but left due to scheduling conflicts with another film. As portrayed by Claire Danes in the third film, Kate was a veterinarian; but in this film, she is now a physician. Howard suggested, as part of the character's backstory, that Kate studied medical books and interviewed many surviving doctors after the events of Judgment Day. The film's subject matter reminded her of developing countries, devastated by war and lacking basic supplies such as clean water, which "reflects things that are going on currently in this privileged world that we are living in where there hasn't been an apocalypse and robots haven't taken over the world. I think that's something definitely for us to reinvestigate and that we continue to make choices for our own future to take that into consideration". Howard also focused on Kate "being accustomed to fear and loss" because the character was a military brat.
Common as Barnes, John's right-hand man. Common stated the character was not overly developed, being "only just a bad-ass character, you know, really the big heavy of the movie", before McG's intervention. Common agreed with this, as "I didn’t want to just be the big, bulky guy there" and worked on the emotional side, "thinking about how it would be in a world that’s post-apocalyptic, a world where, you know, things have been destroyed and we’re really fighting for survival."
Helena Bonham Carter as Dr. Serena Kogan/Skynet: an ex-Cyberdyne scientist who convinces Marcus to donate his body for her research. Her face is later used by the Skynet computer to communicate with Marcus. Tilda Swinton was originally considered for the part, but Bonham Carter replaced her before filming. She accepted the part because herdomestic partner, Tim Burton, is a Terminator fan. Her role was a "small but pivotal" one and would only require ten days of shooting. On July 20, 2008, Bonham Carter delayed filming by a day, and was given an indefinite leave due to the death of four of her family members in a minibus accident in South Africa.
Michael Ironside as General Ashdown, the leader of the Resistance.
Roland Kickinger as The Terminator / T-800 (Model 101): the first Terminator covered in living tissue. Bodybuilder and actor Kickinger, who previously portrayed Schwarzenegger in the 2005 biographical film See Arnold Run, was his physical double on set. When asked about his role, Kickinger said it is "Arnold's character in the first Terminator. That's basically my role, but 20 years before, so it establishes how the Terminator came about." Polish strongman athleteMariusz Pudzianowski was also considered for doubling Schwarzenegger. If Schwarzenegger had decided not to lend his appearance to the film, then John would have shot the T-800s face off before the audience got a good look at him.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's facial likeness was utilized via CGI, with a mold of his face made in 1984 scanned to create the digital makeup.
Jadagrace Berry as Star, a nine-year-old girl in Kyle's care. Born after Judgment Day, Star is mute due to the trauma of the post-apocalyptic world. However, this has given her the unnatural ability to sense when a Skynet machine is approaching.
Terry Crews as Captain Jericho, Barnes' brother.
Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, John's mother. Sarah's voice is heard from tapes she recorded before her death prior to the film's events.

Production
Development
In 1999, two years after C2 Pictures purchased the rights to the franchise, two Terminator films' premises were mapped out and were supposed to be developed simultaneously. Tedi Sarafian was hired to write Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which he eventually received shared story credit for, while David C. Wilson was to write Terminator 4. Before any revisions were done, T3 initially took place in 2001 and revolved around the first attacks between Skynet and humans. T4 would follow immediately afterward and centered primarily on the war seen in the first two films. Warner Bros. gave the film the codename "Project Angel".

Following the release of Terminator 3 in 2003, producers Andrew G. Vajna and Mario Kassar contracted Nick Stahl andClaire Danes to return as John Connor and Kate Brewster in another film. Director Jonathan Mostow helped develop the script, written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris, and was set to begin production in 2005 after completing another film. It was known by then Arnold Schwarzenegger's role would be limited, as he had assumed office as Governor of California. The producers sought to have Warner Bros. finance the picture as they did for Terminator 3.[38] In 2005, Stahl said John and Kate would be recast as the story jumped forward in time. By 2006, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, distributor of the original film, was set to distribute the fourth film as part of the new CEO Harry Sloan's scheme to make the studio a viable Hollywood player.

On May 9, 2007, it was announced that production rights to the Terminator series had passed from the feuding Vajna and Kassar to the Halcyon Company. The producers hoped to start a new trilogy based on the franchise. The purchase was financed with a loan by Pacificor, a hedge fund from Santa Monica. By July 19, the project was in legal limbo due to a lawsuit between MGM and Halcyon subsidiary T Asset. MGM had an exclusive window of 30 days to negotiate for distribution of the Terminator films. When negotiating for Terminator 4, Halcyon rejected their initial proposal, and MGM suspended negotiations. After the 30 days were over, MGM claimed that the period during which negotiations were suspended did not count and their exclusive period was still open. Halcyon asked a court for an injunction allowing them to approach other distributors. Later, the lawsuit was settled and MGM got a 30-day right of first refusal to finance and distribute the fifth Terminator film.

Finally, Warner Bros. paid $60 million to acquire the United States distribution rights of Terminator Salvation; Sony Picturesalso paid just over $100 million to acquire this film's distribution rights in all international territories.

WritingMcG signed on to direct as the first two films were among his favorites, and he had even cast Robert Patrick (who played the T-1000) in his films. Though he was initially unsure about "flogging a dead horse," he felt the post-apocalyptic setting allowed the film to be different enough so as not to be just an inferior sequel. The idea that events in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines altered the future also allowed them to be flexible with their presentation of the futuristic world. McG met with the series' co-creator James Cameron, and, although he neither blessed nor denigrated the project, Cameron told the new director he had faced a similar challenge when following Ridley Scott's Alien with Aliens.He maintained two elements of the previous films; that John is an outsider to the authorities, and someone of future importance is being protected, and in this film it is Kyle Reese.

The first full screenplay for the film was written by Terminator 3 writers John Brancato and Michael Ferris, who received full screenplay credit. Paul Haggis rewrote Brancato and Ferris's script,[49] and Shawn Ryan made another revision three weeks before filming. Jonathan Nolan also wrote on set, which led to McG to say, "I would have to characterize Jonah as the lead writer of the film. I don’t know how the WGA rules work". Nolan contributed to the film after Bale signed on and created Connor's arc of becoming a leader. Anthony E. Zuiker contributed to the script as well. So extensive were the rewrites that Alan Dean Foster decided to rewrite the entire novelization after submitting it to his publisher, because the compiled shooting script was very different from the one he was given beforehand.

In the early script drafts, John was a secondary character. Producer James Middleton explained "Ben-Hurwas influenced by Jesus Christ, but it was his story. Much in that way, this [new main] character will be influenced by John Connor."  The original ending was to have John killed, and his image kept alive by the resistance by grafting his skin onto Marcus' cybernetic body. Marcus would have then murdered Kate, Barnes, Kyle, and Star.However, after the ending was leaked on the Internet, Warner Bros. decided to completely change the entire third act of the film. McG and Nolan did continue the Christ element of John's character though, in which he has some followers who believe what he knows about Skynet, and others who do not.

McG described the film's theme as "where you draw the line between machines and humans". The friendship between Marcus—who was executed (for murder) when humanity still ruled the world—and Kyle Reese illustrates how war and suffering can bring out the best in people, such as when they worked together to survive during the Blitz. The title was derived from this second chance given to humanity and to Marcus, in addition to John's efforts to save humanity from the machines. The film's original title was Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, but this was dropped during filming.

Throughout writing, the cast and crew would watch scenes from the three films to pick moments to reference or tribute, including "Come with me if you want to live" and "I'll be back", which is uttered by John in this film. McG found himself having to decide which ideas for references would be included and which would not.An opening scene has John fighting a Terminator on a crashed helicopter, which was storyboarded as a homage to the climax of the original film, where his mother Sarah, having broken her leg, is chased by a crippled Terminator. McG did this to reflect the skills John learned from her.

FilmingTerminator Salvation had a $200 million budget. Shooting of the film started on May 5, 2008 in New Mexico. Filming also took place at Kirtland Air Force Base in the state,after the United States Air Force agreed to provide the crew guidance and aircraft. The filmmakers had originally intended to begin filming on March 15 inBudapest or Australia, but a 25 percent tax rebate and absence of an interest rate cap and floor made the filmmakers seek the cheaper New Mexico, because of their elevated budget. To avoid delays caused by a possible 2008 Screen Actors Guild strike in July, all exterior scenes were completed by then, so production could restart easily. The shoot ended on July 20, 2008, though some pick-ups took place in January 2009.

In addition to Bale breaking his hand and Worthington hurting his back, special effects technician Mike Menardis almost lost his leg filming an explosion. The sequence required a manhole cover being blown into the air, which hit Menardis and partially severed his leg. McG noted it was testament to the gritty style of the film. "I say with respect, I didn't want that Star Wars experience of everything's a blue screen, tennis balls, and go for it. I had Stan Winston build all the machines. We built all the sets, the explosive power, the explosive power so you feel that wind and that percussion and that heat blowing your eyebrows off. And with that you get a couple bumps and bruises on the way, but you get it in an integrity and a realism that hopefully echoesApocalypse Now. You couldn't say, 'Let's just shoot Apocalypse Now in Burbank, I think it's going to feel just as good.'"

The film used Technicolor's Oz process during post-production. This is a partial silver retention on the interpositive, similar to bleach bypass, which will be used to lend to the sense of detachment from the modern world McG was looking for.Industrial Light & Magic developed shader programs to make the desaturated lighting of the CGI realistic and well-integrated to the on-set footage. The filmmakers consulted with many scientists about the effects of an abandoned world and nuclear winter. McG cited Mad Max 2, the original Star Wars trilogy and Children of Men, as well as the novel The Road, as his visual influences. He instructed his cast to read the latter as well as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Like Children of Men, McG would storyboard scenes so that it would be edited together to resemble aseamless, continuous shot. It took two weeks to film a two-minute shot of Connor getting caught up in a bombing on the Skynet base where he discovers plans for the T-800.

In Time 2011 American dystopian science fiction thriller film

In Time is a 2011 American dystopian science fiction thriller film written, directed, and produced by Andrew Niccol and starring Justin Timberlake,Amanda Seyfried and Cillian Murphy that takes place in a society where people stop aging at 25 and each has a clock on their arm that counts down how long they have to live. The film was released on October 28, 2011.

In 2169, people are born genetically engineered with a digital clock on their forearm. When they turn 25 years old, they stop aging and their clock begins counting down from one year;[Note 1] when it reaches zero, that person "times out" and dies. Time has become the universal currency; it is used to pay for daily expenses and can be transferred between people or capsules. The country has been divided into "time zones" based on the wealth of the population. The film focuses on two specific zones: Dayton - a poor manufacturing area where people generally have 24 hours or less on their clock at any given time - and New Greenwich - the wealthiest time zone, where people have enough time on their clock to live for centuries.

Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) is a 28-year-old Dayton factory worker who lives with his 50-year-old mother Rachel (Olivia Wilde). One night at a local bar, he saves a drunken and suicidal 105-year-old man named Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer) from an attempted robbery by 75-year-old local thief Fortis (Alex Pettyfer) and his gang; such criminal gangs are called "Minutemen" since they steal their victims' time. Later that night, in a secret location, Hamilton reveals to Will the truth about time wealth: there is plenty of time for everyone to live a long life. Hamilton explains that the people of New Greenwich hoard most of the time for themselves in order to live forever, while constantly increasing the cost of living in poorer districts to keep people dying. Hamilton gives a sleeping Will 116 years of his time, leaving himself with 5 minutes. After awakening to a message from Hamilton not to waste the time he was given, Will rushes to a nearby bridge that Hamilton is sitting on, but he arrives too late to stop Hamilton from timing out and falling dead into the water. Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy), leader of the police-like Timekeepers, leads the investigation into Hamilton's death, and erroneously assumes that Will robbed and killed Hamilton.

Will visits his best friend Borel (Johnny Galecki) and shares ten years with him, one for each year of their friendship. Heeding Borel's warning that staying in Dayton with that much time will get him killed, Will tells Borel that he is going to use the time to move with his mom to New Greenwich. Meanwhile, Rachel uses all but 90 minutes of her time to pay off a 2-day loan and finds herself short for bus fare to get home since the fare has been increased. The uncaring driver forces her to run back to Dayton, but she arrives a few seconds too late for Will to save her and times out in his arms. The following morning, Will donates some of his time to a man who runs a Mission that distributes time to the poor to keep them alive. Will then decides to call a car service and head to New Greenwich, where he spends his first night in a hotel suite. The next day, he meets 110-year-old time-loaning businessman Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser) and his 27-year-old daughter Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried) at a local casino. While playing poker with Weis, Will bets all of his time and wins 1,100 years in the hand. Afterward, Sylvia invites him to a party in the Weis mansion. Will buys a mid-1960's Jaguar XK-E and drives himself to the party, where the Timekeepers quickly apprehend him. After Will explains how he obtained the time he currently has, a skeptical Raymond arbitrarily confiscates all but two hours of Will's time, but Will manages to escape with Sylvia as hostage. En route to Dayton they are ambushed by Fortis and his gang, who take all but thirty minutes of their time. Will attempts to get some time back from Borel, but learns from his wife Greta (Yaya DaCosta) that he used his time todrink himself to death with nine years left on his clock. Sylvia is forced to pawn some jewelry to get time for herself and Will, and Will calls Weis to demand a 1,000 year ransom for her. When Weis refuses to pay, Will decides to release Sylvia, who calls Weis from a pay phone, but they are ambushed by Raymond, whom Sylvia shoots by accident.

Will and Sylvia decide to team up and begin robbing her father's time banks. A ten-year reward is offered for their capture, which leads Fortis and his gang to hunt them down in a local hotel room. After shooting the rest of the gang and then killing Fortis by winning a duel to the death, Will escapes with Sylvia. However, the pair realize they cannot steal enough time to effectively change things, as New Greenwich simply raises prices to compensate. They decide on a big score and rob her father's personal vault for one million years. Raymond chases them back to Dayton, but is too late to stop them from distributing the stolen time to the poor. Raymond chases them to the outskirts of the city where, after revealing that he also came from Dayton, he times out, having neglected to collect his daily time allotment. Will and Sylvia, each with just over a minute to live, race to Raymond's patrol car and Will collects Raymond's daily pay. In a scene reminiscent of his mother's death, Will and Sylvia run toward each other with seconds left; this time, he makes it in time to save her.

TV reports show factories in Dayton shutting down as everyone has enough time and abandons their jobs to go to New Greenwich. Will and Sylvia continue robbing banks as part of their efforts to crash the system, while the rich attempt to cope with the sudden surge of people infiltrating their zone.

CastJustin Timberlake as Will Salas
Amanda Seyfried as Sylvia Weis
Cillian Murphy as Timekeeper Raymond Leon
Alex Pettyfer as Fortis
Vincent Kartheiser as Philippe Weis
Olivia Wilde as Rachel Salas
Matt Bomer as Henry Hamilton
Johnny Galecki as Borel
Collins Pennie as Timekeeper Jaeger
Ethan Peck as Constantin
Yaya DaCosta as Greta, Borel's wife
Rachel Roberts as Carrera
August Emerson as Levi
Sasha Pivovarova as Clara Weiss (Sylvia's grandmother)
Jesse Lee Soffer as Webb
Bella Heathcote as Michele Weis (Sylvia's mother)
Toby Hemingway as Timekeeper Kors
Melissa Ordway as Leila
Jessica Parker Kennedy as Edouarda
Christoph Sanders as Nixon
Jeff Staron as Oris
Matt O'Leary as Moser
Nick Lashaway as Ekman
Ray Santiago as Victa
Kris Lemche as Markus

ProductionBefore the film was titled In Time, the names Now and I'm.mortal were used.[4] On July 12, 2010, it was reported thatAmanda Seyfried had been offered a lead role.[5] On July 27, 2010, it was confirmed that Justin Timberlake had been offered a lead role.[6] On August 9, 2010, Cillian Murphy was confirmed to have joined the cast.

The first photos from the set were revealed on October 28, 2010.[8] 20th Century Fox and New Regency distributed the film, and Marc Abraham and Eric Newman's Strike Entertainment produced it.

In an interview with Kristopher Tapley of InContention.com Roger Deakins stated that he would be shooting the film in digital, which makes this the first film to be shot in digital by the veteran cinematographer.

The Dayton scenes were filmed primarily in the Skid Row and Boyle Heights neighborhoods of Los Angeles, while the New Greenwich scenes were filmed primarily in Century City, Bel Air, and Malibu. Although the names of the ghetto-like zone and wealthy enclave reflect Dayton and Greenwich, respectively, the maps used by the Timekeepers are maps of Los Angeles, CA.

Using the common device of Future-Retro, the production's vehicle suppliers assembled a fleet of cars and trucks from used car lots and junkyards. Although an ancient Citroën DS 21 and Cadillac Seville feature, center stage goes to a fleet of seemingly immaculate Dodge Challengers and Lincoln Continentals. The rich drive around in the high gloss Lincolns, all of which have been smoothed, lowered and fitted with over-sized disc wheels on low profile rubber. The Dodges are the Time Keeper's cop cars. These too have been smoothed and externally customized, with grilles front and rear covering the lights, and low profile tires on disc wheels. In stark contrast to the Lincolns, paintwork is matte black. A slim police light-bar is fitted internally, behind the windshield. Externally this fleet looked immaculate but no money was spent on what would not be seen and many of the vehicles had wrecked interiors, with ripped seats, carpets and head-linings. Because the cars had been assembled from many sources and prepared to look identical, the interiors of most were of a color which did not match the black exteriors. The best of the Lincoln Continentals, for instance, whose interior is seen in the production, is trimmed out in blue.

The use of future retro is one of many elements that the film seems to share with Niccol's earlier work, Gattaca. The earlier work also features electrically powered vintage cars (notably a Rover P6 and again, a Citroën DS), as well as buildings of indeterminate age. Gattaca also deals with innate inequalities (though in its case genetic, rather than longevity) and the film's protagonist also seeks to cross the divide that his birthright is supposed to deny him. Similarly, he is pursued by law enforcement officers after being wrongly identified as having committed a murder.

Copyright lawsuitOn September 15, 2011, according to The Hollywood Reporter, a suit was filed by attorneys on behalf of speculative fiction writer Harlan Ellison that the film's plot was based on his award-winning 1965 short story "‍ '​Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman".

The suit, naming New Regency and director Andrew Niccol as well as a number of anonymous John Does, appears to base its claim on the similarity that both the completed film along with Ellison's story concern a dystopian future in which people have a set amount of time to live which can be revoked, given certain pertaining circumstances by a recognized authority known as a Timekeeper. Initially, the suit demanded an injunction against the film's release; however, Ellison later altered his suit to instead ask for screen credit before ultimately dropping the suit, with both sides releasing the following joint statement: "After seeing the film In Time, Harlan Ellison decided to voluntarily dismiss the Action. No payment or screen credit was promised or given to Harlan Ellison. The parties wish each other well, and have no further comment on the matter."

Similar worksMany of the elements of In Time can be found in the 1987 short film The Price of Life, made by Chanticleer Films. Its basic premise and storyline are so similar that In Time has been called an unacknowledged remake of the earlier film.The Price of Life was a 38-minute short film (story by Stephen Tolkin and Michel Monteaux) in which a time account is physically linked to every infant at birth, with death automatic when the balance drops to zero. An elite upper-class is portrayed as living hundreds of years or more. The protagonist is given a certain amount of time as an infant, and as young boy adds days and years to his time account by buying valuables from people and selling them to visiting tourists from the rich enclave. After his sister dies after gambling away her time, the protagonist (now a young man) sets out on a journey to the enclave of "the Old Ones" in order to save the life of his mother, who is (literally) running out of time. He gets there and meets a beautiful older woman who co-opts him into the immortal lifestyle.

ReceptionThe film received generally mixed reviews from critics, with praise over the originality and cast performances, but had criticism for the lack of character development; review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 36% of 152 critics gave the movie a positive review, with a rating average of 5.2 out of 10. The website's consensus reads, "In Time‍ '​s intriguing premise and appealing cast are easily overpowered by the blunt, heavy-handed storytelling." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 53 based on 36 reviews.CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a "B-minus" on an A+ to F scale.Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review with 3 stars out of 4, noting that the "premise is damnably intriguing", but "a great deal of this film has been assembled from standard elements". Henry Barnes noted that Will is "one of the 99%" and calls the character "a Rolex Robin Hood".