We might still be waiting to hear about the new Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke is said to be the front-runner, with Brie Larson still in contention too), but “Terminator 5” has found her on-screen son. While Tom Hardy was said to be the target for the role of John Connor (played by Edward Furlong, Nick Stahl and Christian Bale in the previous films), Skydance and Annapurna Pictures‘ reboot, “Terminator: Genesis,” it’s the actor’s co-star in “Lawless,” and the upcoming “Child 44,” Jason Clarke who’s won out, according to Deadline.
The Australian-born Clarke’s become an increasingly in-demand actor after his breakout role in “Zero Dark Thirty” last year: he popped up in “The Great Gatsby” and “White House Down” this year, plays the human lead in next summer’s tentpole “Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes,” and will star with Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin and John Hawkes in Baltasar Kormakur‘s “Everest.”
With Clarke (Jason) being eighteen years older than Clarke (Emilia, who we guess we’ll have to call Khaleesi to avoid confusion), and two decades Larson’s senior, we assume that there’ll be some time-travel mullarkey that allows an adult Connor to co-exist with his younger mother (and father, Kyle Reese, a role linked to Garret Hedlund, Taylor Kitsch and Nicholas Hoult). Perhaps she’ll fall in love with him, “Back To The Future“-style?
Anyway, Clarke is great, and a fine choice for the part, though we hope it doesn’t effect his involvement in Yorgos Lanthimos‘ “The Lobster,” and after “Terminator: Salvation,” it’ll take something more concrete for us to get particularly interested in the film. James Cameron collaborator Laeta Kalogridis (“Avatar,” “Shutter Island“) and Patrick Lussier (“Drive Angry“) wrote the script, “Thor: The Dark World” helmer Alan Taylor is directing, and the film will be released on July 1st, 2015.