Gale Anne Hurd is a powerhouse within the entertainment industry; with a string of credits to her name including producer for such movies as The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Armageddon and The Punisher, as well as executive producing Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator 3: ROTM, and AMC‘s The Walking Dead.
Now the founder of Valhalla Entertainment is set to receive a lifetime achievement award at The Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland this week. Variety managed to catch up with Gale to talk about the industry and her career, when the subject of Terminator rose from the ashes.
“It spawned a massive techno, thriller action franchise too. Have we seen the last “Terminator” film?“
Variety
“Honestly, I have no idea. I wasn’t involved in the last one. To give you some perspective, I used to have a scuba diving practice in Micronesia, and we found that they even screened “The Terminator,” albeit a bootleg video version, of one of the most remote islands in the world. The awareness is already built in, and I do think it’s a perennial with the right story with the right cast and the right direction. I think there could still be a potential future there.”
Gale Anne Hurd
We agree that the franchise does indeed still have a future despite having lost its way; as Gale says, with the right talent and direction the franchise could see better days.
Hurd also touched upon comic book movies and even said that The Terminator is confused by many as being an adaptation…
“Also, people always think “The Terminator” was adapted from a comic book, which of course it wasn’t. But it seems like it could have been a comic book.”
Gale Anne Hurd
It could also be easy to confuse Slade Wilson AKA Deathstroke: The Terminator with the franchise if you don’t know much about either property. Deathstroke: The Terminator first appeared in The New Teen Titans #2 (December 1980).
The Terminator also has had life in comic book form, courtesy of Dark Horse Comics, which likely adds to possible confusion. The logo is also similar to that of Deathstroke’s.
In the Variety interview it was mentioned that the name ‘The Terminator’ was used as way to obscure the strong female character and the enduring love story.
“You’ve said before the that “The Terminator” was only given that name in order to appease studio execs who were worried the main character was a woman. Would that still happen in today’s industry?“
Variety
““The Terminator,” I think first of all, is an incredible name. I couldn’t have thought of a better one, but it does obscure the fact that it’s a love story about Sarah Connor and the man who crossed time to save her, and if he hadn’t done that she would not have had a child that led the human resistance against robots. But at the end of the day it’s a love story, and on top of that it’s a cool techno, thriller, action film.”
Gale Anne Hurd
When asked about receiving her lifetime achievement award, Gale mentioned Orion Pictures co-founder Mike Medavoy…
“When I looked up the previous recipients, what struck me most was that one of my mentors, Mike Medavoy, received this 10 years ago. He’s one of the people without whose support I wouldn’t be a producer today. It makes it even more meaningful. He was one of the people who greenlit “The Terminator” and the other film they’re showing, “Dick,” was a project he developed and partnered with me on. He financed it and I produced it. It’s a lot of luminaries that I don’t quite feel I measure up to, but I’m glad the people who run Locarno think so.”
Gale Anne Hurd
You can watch Locarno Film Festival interview Gale Anne Hurd by clicking the video below.
Do you think that the Terminator franchise still has a future? Who do you think was the main character of The Terminator (1984)?