It's not often that members of a famed Hollywood family have their movies opening one week after the other. But when it comes to the Howard family, you can bet that actress Bryce will want her film to terminate whatever is No. 1 -- even if it's that Vatican thriller directed by her dad, Ron.

"It's quite funny. We've had quite a really good time joking about it," Bryce Dallas Howard said, laughing in an @ The Movies interview Wednesday. "But when I talked with him Monday and asked 'OK, what are the official numbers?' he said, 'They're fantastic' and then he let it slip: 'It would be great if we could hold (No. 1) for another weekend.' Then there was this awkward pause, and I said, 'I really hope your numbers stay strong, but that you don't quite hold it.'"

Howard brings her family's winning tradition to "Terminator Salvation" as Kate Connor, a doctor, and wife and confidant of John Connor (Christian Bale), the leader of the human Resistance, which is in the heat of battling the artificially intelligent unit Skynet. Becoming self-aware on Judgment Day and nearly annihilating Earth's residents with nuclear proliferation, Skynet -- represented by cyborgs and other Terminator units -- is aiming to kill John Connor, the soldier of destiny who holds the key to saving humanity.

"Salvation" keeps in sync with many of the "Terminator" saga's sensibilities, including a foundation for strong female characters. But unlike Linda Hamilton's tough-as-nails Sarah Connor in the original "Terminator" films, "Salvation" has two strong female leads in Howard and Moon Bloodgood -- who plays Blair Williams, one of the core members of the Resistance.

"Moon really carries the torch for Linda as the kick-butt, heroic female in this film," Howard observed. "One of the things that's been really distinctive about this franchise from the get-go is that empowered female characters were at the center of it. When you think 'Terminator,' you may want to initially think that it's this machismo, action-filled film, but it's more than that."

While Bloodgood handily delivers the Hamilton-inspired hard knocks in "Terminator Salvation," Howard is happy with her duty to provide the strong maternal-type of presence that the Sarah Connor actress brought to the first two "Terminator" films.

"In the first two films, it was about a mother protecting her son when things go awry," Howard explained. "(Director) McG really identified and intentionally wanted to have the wife of John Connor to be this really nurturing, maternal character that was pregnant. Kate literally has a stake in future. John and Kate need to bring peace for humanity because otherwise, their child was going to be in jeopardy. It's like the same turmoil Sarah Connor faced."

"Terminator Salvation" marks Howard's second turn in an established movie franchise, following her role as Gwen Stacy in "Spider-Man 3" in 2007. And while every role requires a certain amount of responsibility to deliver for the film's backers, crew members and fellow actors, Howard knows that there's a special obligation that goes along with being in a feature that has an established fan base.

"I feel that there's an appropriate and healthy amount of responsibility that one feels when you step into a franchise that has been really beloved," Howard said. "I think first as a fan, you want your own expectations to be manifested cinematically. Hopefully, then, if you meet your own expectations, it will also satisfy audiences."

As a longtime fan of the "Terminator" films herself, Howard, 28, was certainly satisfied with what she saw on-screen -- and on the set. Since her scenes were limited to only one with a serpent-like Terminator called a Hydrobot, Howard allowed her inner-geek to come out in its full glory whenever she could.

"There were days when I came to work -- even though I didn't have to -- just to see certain things. It was so amazing. Coming from a background in black box theater where you look at a black wall and imagine, 'It's a kingdom,'" Howard exclaimed with a giggle. "With movies -- especially these huge spectacles -- they actually create the world … there were days when we would walk on the set and there would be hundreds of explosions, and guys who dressed up as T-600s and were 7 foot 8 inches tall, and were walking around with machine guns. It was wild. It was like a theme park."