Terminator: Salvation's McG Teases Unreleased Director's Cut

The Director's cuts of movies have come around again as a popular fad among film fans. The Justice League "Snyder Cut" was a major movement that ended in a milestone victory, and since then, other DC films like Suicide Squad or other big franchises like Star Wars have all inspired fan rally cries and/or petitions for the respective directors to have their "true" visions presented to the world. Well, now one unlikely director is throwing his hat in the ring to get his "cut" released: Terminator Salvation director McG, who recently revealed he has a darker cut of Terminator 4 that could be released.

Speaking with CBR, McG reflected on the experience of making Terminator: Salvation and the ultimate disappointment fans felt with the version of the film that was released into theaters. That's when the Charlie's Angels filmmaker sparked-up discussion of Terminator: Salvation, the 'McG Cut':

"It's interesting because I feel like we did so much right with Terminator but, ultimately, got just enough wrong that we got beat up a little bit by the fanbase and it really, really broke my heart. And now, strangely, I think the film has started to age better. And there is a different cut: I have my own cut of that film and there's people online that talk about wanting to see that cut. And that's interesting! But I think I got a lot of things right with that."

In case you didn't pick up on the fact that McG is not-so-subtly campaigning to see his cut of Terminator: Salvation become a trending topic - let's see if this next bit helps make the case:

"Obviously, I think [uncredited screenwriter] Jonah Nolan is very, very serious writer and he did the best he could. And Christian [Bale] is maybe the most talented actor working today and Sam [Worthington] did a really good job also," McG said. "I think I got to take the punch on that one for not quite nailing the landing on the final expression of that movie and, who knows, maybe the cut that I have of that movie hidden away is the answer. It's darker! [Laughs] I don't know, that's for the fans to say."

While some may see McG's words as pandering to the current trend of fan-driven campaigns for the director's cuts of films, his comments are not without merit. Terminator: Salvation remains infamous as one of the most glaring cases of a movie whose trailer promised greatness, only for the film to deliver disappointment. If McG truly has a cut of the film that's closer to that trailer, there are a lot of fans who would probably want to see it.

The Terminator movie franchise pretty much burned itself out with Terminator: Dark Fate.