McG says it’s all really up to Drew Barrymore when it comes to a potential third installment of Charlie’s Angels: “Drew’s sort of my fairy godmother. She brought me into this movie business.”
From Charlie’s Angels to The OC, director and producer, McG, has been behind many pop culture staples in film and television throughout the past two decades.
And although fans of his beloved projects often want more — especially in today’s age of reboots and nostalgia-driven franchises — McG wants to focus on moving forward, but he isn’t completely against revisiting past property in the future.
While promoting his upcoming Netflix film, the Family Switch, with TooFab, the 55-year-old director — whose full name is — Joseph McGinty Nichol — opened up about how he balances creating original stories versus those of the past, sharing how 2009’s Terminator: Salvation is an example of how doing the latter can go wrong.
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“I mean, I try to keep moving forward. I did my best on that Terminator movie. I brought Christian Bale in, and Jonah Nolan wrote it, and we did everything,” McG said. “We didn’t quite get the result we were looking for on that one, but that was very hard to swallow and stung and made me think, ‘Wow, I really wanna stay in the progressive idea of moving forward.'”
Terminator: Salvation — which remains the most expensive Terminator film ever with a budget of $200 million — earned less than predicted at the box office, and was not received well by critics, with the film garnering a 33% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Although his attempt to revisit the Terminator franchise didn’t go as expected, McG noted that he appreciates how his past work has impacted pop culture and is loved by fans — sometimes even decades after its release.
“It’s flattering when Supernatural runs for 15 years, or The OC touches pop culture, or people still think fondly about the Sublime videos or Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’ and stuff like that,” he told TooFab. “So it feels good to contribute to the nostalgia, but I always want to keep growing and pushing forward, and breaking down barriers, and doing things that are exciting and new, and finding the next stars.”
That said, McG — who directed 2000’s Charlie’s Angels as well as the 2003 sequel — revealed he would be open to doing a third installment, but said it’s all up to Drew Barrymore.
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“Look, I defer to Drew. Drew’s sort of my fairy godmother. She brought me into this movie business,” he said. “And, you know, I just owe everything to her. I love Cameron. I love Lucy. I think we’ve always remained open to the idea. We haven’t really talked formally about what that would be, but people seem to bring it up with regularity, so it’ll be very interesting to see where it goes. Cameron [Diaz], Drew, and Lucy [Liu] are just incredible on the screen. The world deserves to see them one more time.”
Reflecting on his career so far, McG shared he’s ultimately “most proud of” discovering new talent, with the list of now-huge names including Tom Hardy, Samara Weaving, and the cast of The OC.
“I think that what I’m most proud of is at the time Sam Rockwell was new, Tom Hardy was new in This Means War. The kids in The OC, Samara Weaving, Jenna Ortega. What I enjoy most is discovering, ‘Hey, that’s gonna be a star.’ And I love that feeling. So I always wanna put myself in a position where I can discover new talent and new voices and bring those voices to the world. That’s very, very rewarding when you meet someone who hasn’t touched the world yet, and then they go out there, and they become a big, big star. It’s fun.”
Family Switch — starring Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms — hits Netflix on Thursday, November 30. Check out the trailer, below.
