With Arnold Back To Acting, Suitors Circle ‘Terminator’

Shortly after Arnold Schwarzenegger left the Governor’s Mansion and Tweeted his desire to resume his acting career, there seems to finally be some action on his signature franchise, The Terminator. I’m told that interest is kicking back up. One interested party: Universal, which is looking for a directing vehicle for Justin Lin. He helmed the last three installments of The Fast and the Furious franchise, including the latest Fast Five, which Universal releases April 29. I’ve heard that the plan would be to possibly pair him with Chris Morgan, who aside from Fast Five has credits on big scale Universal films that include the upcoming Keanu Reeves actioner 47 Ronin and Wanted.

Since being acquired in bankruptcy court last February by Santa Monica-based hedge fund Pacificor for $29.5 million, The Terminator has maintained radio silence, surprising given the voracious studio appetite for branded tent pole projects that lend themselves to 3D technology. Part of the reason was the subpar results of the last film, but also the bankruptcy auction which left the two most likely distributors, Sony Pictures and Lionsgate, walking away in disgust. Pacificor, one of the debt holders that forced Halcyon partners Victor Kubicek and Derek Anderson into bankruptcy, was the surprise winner, bidding close to the $30 million that Kubicek and Anderson paid to acquire the rights back in 2007 from producers Andy Vajna and Mario Kassar.

While the bankruptcy approval left open the prospect of an exclusive negotiation for Sony Pictures and Lionsgate for distribution rights, those distributors walked away from the table. Before the bankruptcy happened, McG had been expected to continue the apocalyptic storyline he started with the Christian Bale-Sam Worthington pic Terminator Salvation, but that attachment ended with the bankruptcy. Right around the time the bankruptcy was settled, Deadline also reported that William Wisher–James Cameron’s collaborator on Terminator 2 and an uncredited co-writer on the original, wrote a 24-page treatment for the next film and a four-page concept outline for a sixth Terminator film. His version continued the post-apocalyptic battleground scenario from Terminator Salvation, but added in the element of time travel. It will be most interesting to see what shape this franchise takes.

And then there's the five reasons the Terminator franchise makes no goddamned sense.

And then there's the five reasons the Terminator franchise makes no goddamned sense.

T3 doesn’t stink as bad as has been let on.

And then there's the five reasons the Terminator franchise makes no goddamned sense.

I liked T2 the best of the series.

Pretty sure I would kill and kill again to write a Terminator comic.

'Terminator 5' Director Justin Lin Denies Original Cast Reunion, Won't Get Stuck In Continuity

Judgment Day is behind us, but the threat of Skynet still hangs heavy in the air as "Fast Five" director Justin Lin and original star Arnold Schwarzenegger join forces for "Terminator 5."

"I've talked to Arnold and I feel like there's a take that I'm excited about, a 'Terminator' movie there that I've always wanted to see and I still haven't seen," Lin told MTV News in an exclusive interview about the new "Terminator" outing. A lot has been reported about Lin and Schwarzenegger's approach to the post-apocalyptic action series, but the "Fast Five" director insisted that recent buzz about the franchise's original cast rising against the machines one more time simply isn't true.

"No. I don't know where that came from," he said of that particular report. "Everything has just been between me and Arnold, you know? Just us going out and trying to find the right partners. I have certain elements, but it's never been about, 'Hey, let's bring everybody back!' I just don't process that way. To me, thematically, there are certain things that I want to see in a 'Terminator' movie. A lot of that does draw back to creating this timeline that is an extension, closer tonally to the first and second movies. But to me, it's not as mathematical as, 'Hey, let's get everybody back together and we'll shoot the movie.'"

Lin, who says that his vision of "Terminator" is more in line with James Cameron's original movies than Jonathan Mostow and McG's more recent entries, added that he doesn't feel like he has to adhere to the continuity set forth by "Rise of the Machines" and "Salvation."

"I always feel like what's great about the 'Terminator' franchise is that there's time-travel and there are different timelines to play with," he said. "There are also a lot of gaps from what we love about all of the 'Terminator' movies, so there's a lot of things we can do and play with. To me, all of that, I don't really want to discuss it now. That's part of the fun of developing. But the bigger questions for me are always the characters and the themes. You want to start there. But obviously, answering your question, ['Terminator'] does have that capability, finding fresh ways of going back without destroying other [movies], because you can tell your own stories."

Speaking of timelines, it's not entirely clear whether Lin will focus on "Terminator 5" as his next movie, especially when he has other projects including a "Fast Five" sequel on his plate: "We're talking to different studios, but it has to be the right situation. If it's not right, then I could totally move on and I should move on. Probably in the next three or four weeks, I'll have a very clear picture [of what my next movie will be]."

I did as well, when it first came out. But watching it more recently I just don't feel the same magic I felt the first time, I saw it. I'm glad I only paid $5 for the dvd.