There was much discussion last week of a possible fourth film in the Terminator franchise with (shiver) McG possibly directing and Vin Diesel maybe doing his blank, robotic best as the murderous robot. Well, today official word comes that there will be a further Terminator movie. Followed by another two. Yes, folks, is a "re-invention".
Warner Bros has acquired the rights to the series and plans to get Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins into production in early 2008. A screenplay has been written by Terminator 3 scribes John Brancato and Michael Ferris, but the studio says that no decision has been made on a director. Please do not make that decision in the direction of McG.
"This is set in the future, in a full-scale war between Skynet and humankind," said Derek Anderson, CEO of Halcyon, who'll produce the thing, confirming the widely held belief that we would finally see a roboto-a-mano war.
T3 exec producer Moritz Borman added, "The third film was really the conclusion of what happened in the 'now.' You will find the most-loved characters, but the intention here is to present a fresh new world and have this be the first of a trilogy." The issue of whether Arnie will return will apparently be down to the Austrian one, but there is a part for him if he wants it.
Now, we'd be very excited to see more Terminator movies if they're as good as the first two and lord knows we really want to see that war. But, that word "re-invention" niggles. What's to re-invent? James Cameron's films were incredible and, aside from a couple of dated effects shots, look just as good today. Does this series need a new identity? Can any Terminator movie without guaranteed Arnie be Terminator in anything other than name?
What say you T-fans?