McG Explains Terminator Salvation Alternative Ending, Claims 30+ Minutes Of Deleted Scenes

McG tells our friends at Collider that the Terminator Salvation DVD will likely have 30 to 40 minutes of deleted scenes. We know about the now infamous Moon Bloodgood topless scene, and after the jump, we'll talk about the alternative ending, but McG also says "There are great long takes of Connor giving speeches, evoking Sarah Connor that we ultimately lifted because I didn't want it to feel that he was dependent on the voice of his mother to find his leadership."

Remember how McG said a few months back that the ending of the film would polarize fans? Well apparently that ending is no longer in the film.

McG revealed the details of that ending to io9. And while the film's current ending is not even close to the one described, some might consider the following a spoiler, so you have been warned!

"We had a jet-black ending. Connor dies, we're in a room with all the people we care about. You take Connor's likeness, you put it on the living machine of Marcus. He sits up, now looking like Christian Bale, takes a gun, kills Kate, kills Kyle, kills Star, kills everybody, eyes flare red, [snaps] the end."

WOW. I'm not sure what to even think about that ending. It would have at least been interesting and ambitious, but I'm not sure what it would mean to the franchise's legacy, and the overall story arc of the series. I'm actually more interested to hear what the plan would have been to follow-up on that ending.

Screenwriter Michael Ferris also confirmed that the ending which leaked onto the internet during production was actually real. Not that we had any doubts. For those of you who might not remember, the ending involved Marcus taking over as John Connor (skin and all) after the resistance leader dies in action. Ferris says the screenplay ended with "everybody, except the inner circle" unaware that John Connor is now a Terminator, and the mechanical Connor going on "to lead the resistance" in the war against the machines.

It is unclear if that ending was ever shot. But it sounds like McG shot the alternative ending he talks about above, so I don't see why they didn't shoot this ending as well to add to the editing options. McG is unsure if the ending will be included on the DVD. I would assume that it was never properly finished, FX wise.