If, like me, you’re in need of a good chuckle, you might enjoy this little clip of James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger that has been making the rounds on social media. The pair were speaking during a video call when Schwarzenegger suddenly took a gulp from a massive beer mug, which caused Cameron to stop mid-sentence and exclaim, “Holy shit! Look at that!“
The moment in question starts at 17:06 in the video below.
I had a laugh. Hopefully, you did as well. This conversation took place three years ago as part of Arnold’s Stammtisch, Schwarzenegger’s climate initiative series in which he spoke with various environmental advocates. I’d like to think Schwarzenegger sent Cameron his own giant beer mug for Christmas that year. “In Austria and Germany, Stammtische are held in pubs and restaurants and allow the local community to come together to discuss political and philosophical issues of the day,” reads a press release. “Stammtische are not structured meetings, but instead friendly get-togethers where strong opinions and words can be exchanged with no hard feelings. In this spirit, each Arnold’s Stammtisch will be informal, conversational and about 15 minutes in length.“
While Schwarzenegger and Cameron are still good friends, it’s unlikely they’ll be reuniting for another Terminator movie. Cameron has been working on a secret Terminator project, but he revealed last month that fans shouldn’t expect to see any familiar characters or iconography.
“This is the moment when you jettison everything that is specific to the last 40 years of Terminator, but you live by those principles,” Cameron said, explaining that the franchise needs to move past its iconic characters. “You get too inside it, and then you lose a new audience because the new audience care much less about that stuff than you think they do. That’s the danger, obviously, with Avatar as well, but I think we’ve proven that we have something for new audiences.“
This means no T-800, no Sarah Connor, and no John Connor. Stripping away these elements would take the franchise back to its bones: humans vs machines, and that’s just what Cameron wants. “You’ve got powerless main characters, essentially, fighting for their lives, who get no support from existing power structures, and have to circumvent them but somehow maintain a moral compass. And then you throw AI into the mix,” Cameron teased. “Those principles are sound principles for storytelling today, right? So I have no doubt that subsequent Terminator films will not only be possible, but they’ll kick ass. But this is the moment where you jettison all the specific iconography.“
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