T3 was all action (and granted... very little story) and I enjoyed that biggrin.gif

The trades announced today the title for the next “Terminator” movie.

"Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins”, shooting early next year, will be the first of three new movies fixing on a new story inside the Terminator universe. In other words, no Arnold, no Biehn, No Hamilton, No Danes, No Cameron, No Mostow, and No “I’ll be Back”.

The WB has snapped up the rights to the film, leaving MGM rather saddened. The studio had hoped to convince the powers-that-be to let them release the latest instalment but some recent kafuffles prevented such a deal from coming off (though Sony looks set to release the film in overseas territories, including Australia).

The Lion planned to pepper its slate with tentpoles such as "The Hobbit" and "Terminator," but neither project has worked out for the distributor. Halcyon sued MGM in July in Los Angeles Superior Court, claming the distrib was interfering with its distribution plans on the fourth "Terminator" film on the basis of an MGM claim that it had acquired an exclusive 30-day negotiating window.

Halycon CEO Derek Anderson tells Variety that they deliberately didn’t want to include a number in the title because its an all-new story.

"This is set in the future, in a full-scale war between Skynet and humankind," he says.

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."

Interesting to note that Borman said it’ll still feature ‘the most loved-characters’. Assuming that means John Connor will be back – but played by a new character.

And good news for AB King, Schwarzenegger “may” make a cameo. (Though it sounds like your typical ‘don’t burn any bridges’ response to being asked whether Arnold may make an appearance in the film)

"We've left it open for him to maybe do a cameo," Borman

If there’s one sequel that looks like it might just Vulcan death-grip all over its predecessor it’s FOX’s ‘’Alien Vs. Predator : Requiem’’, released at Christmas. Judging by what we’ve seen in the trailer it isn’t just a more fun and adventurous flick than the first… it’s a lot more violent. Good news for all.

In an interview with IESB, the film’s directors Greg and Colin Strause (both formely from a visual effects

background), mentioned that they would love a shot at directing the recently announced “Terminator 4” – being huge fans of that franchise, too.

‘’Terminator 4 would be cool but it sounds like McG is doing that. Plus, I have no idea how that works with the strike now. But that would have been like a dream project because the script was really, really cool. That would have been a hell of a movie”, Colin says.

''Terminator 2 : Judgement Day'' (1991) was actually the film that enticed the brothers to pursue a career in visual effects.

‘’That was a real turning point. That was like, "We want to do this for a living!", says Colin.

Greg adds, “Colin was toying around with graphic programs on the Amiga and then Terminator 2 came out and we were both like, "That's it! We gotta do that!" There was just nothing else. We went to movie theater six times to see that movie. Then we started getting more serious about it. As we started teaching ourselves and as we started getting good at it, Jurasssic Park came out in 1993 and then we were able to start computer graphics. It was the new, hot trend and we started making money at it in the Chicago area. But then there's kind of glass ceiling there in terms of the type of work you can get. You know, it's very hard, there, to get feature work.”

While it's been hinted in previous Hollywood trade articles, Moviehole now says it's a done deal - McG will direct Warner Bros. Pictures' Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, the fourth installment in the popular franchise.

Expected to hit theaters in the summer of 2009, "Terminator Salvation" will reinvent the cyborg saga with a storyline to be told over a three-movie span. The film is set in the future, in a full-scale war between Skynet and humankind.