So you may have heard that Arnold Schwarzenegger is a hot story in tabloids these days. And this is on the heels of Megan Ellison coming to acquire the film rights for the Terminator franchise from Halcyon. Add to that, Justin Lin, who saw his phone light up with calls from studios to direct films they have in development after the success of Fast Five, was tapped to direct a new Terminator movie.
Lin supposedly had some bold plans for the franchise that would involve Schwarzenegger pre-scandal. And Universal was most interested, especially considering how Lin has helped bankroll the studio with the last two Fast and Furious releases.
But with the news of Schwarzenegger’s infidelity, the one-time Kindergarten Cop will be putting his return to film on hold for the moment. (The best thing for Ah-nuld to do is to regroup and get a hold of James Cameron and see if he’s got a spot for him in Avatar 2: Blue Man Group Boogaloo).
While Schwarzenegger may not return to the Terminator franchise next, that’s not stopping Megan Ellison and her company, Annapurna Films, from moving forward with the project.
According to What’s Playing, it looks like Arnold would have played a substantial role in the new installment – which is said to tear up the original timeline (wouldn’t be the first time) – but would be joined by a younger male lead (Justin Lin keeps pitching Paul Walker for some reason – if he’s not behind the wheel of a car alongside Vin Diesel, no one cares).
If that’s the case then I guess Pavel Chekov, uh, Anton Yelchin is out as Reese. Same goes for Christian Bale as John Conner. So while we may have the original characters, the original cast is terminated.
Though there’s always this possibility.
