Since action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger recently finished his run as Governor of California, and subsequently let the world know (via his Twitter feed) that he’s ready to return to acting, the internet has been abuzz with rumours of potential projects he may wish to tackle; one of which is a planned fifth entry in the Terminator franchise.
But despite what some publications are suggesting, Arnold (who last appeared on screen in a small cameo in The Expendables) is not attached to any upcoming Terminator movie, and has made no official statements expressing an interest to return, however his desire to return to acting may have been the catalyst that pushed Universal to consider going ahead with Terminator 5; as a directing vehicle for Justin Lin.
For some time Universal have been scouting a potential directing vehicle for Justin Lin (Fast Five), and believe that a new Terminator movie could be a good fit; particularly as William Wisher (script collaborator on both the original Terminator movie, and T2: Judgement Day) has devised a treatment for a fifth film in the series, and has even finished the concept for a potential sixth movie.
Reports suggest that Universal would be looking to pair Lin with scriptwriter Chris Morgan (the Fast Five scribe), for the film that would likely continue with the post-apocalyptic setting established in Terminator: Salvation, but incorporate elements of time-travel into the mix (if Wisher’s treatment was to be followed).
However, before a film could get the official go-ahead, Universal would need to acquire the rights to the franchise from Pacificor; the company who won the rights in a bankruptcy auction they themselves forced on former owner Halcyon, when the most likely distributors (Sony and Lionsgate) walked away; and as such most reports are centering more on speculation than anything else, meaning seeing another Terminator movie is, as this point, far from guaranteed.
