Terminator 4 release date confirmed
Story by Jack Foley
A FOURTH Terminator movie is to be released on May 22, 2009, film studio bosses have confirmed.
Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins is reported to be the first in a new trilogy and finds Batman Begins star Christian Bale taking on the role of rebel leader John Connor (previously played by Edward Furlong and Nick Stahl). It is being directed by McG, of Charlie’s Angels fame.
Production is scheduled to begin in New Mexico and the US in May and will become the biggest film ever to be shot in the state.
But in a statement concerning the choice of location, McG has said: “This is the story of a man’s search for belief in himself and his fellow man. It’s a long journey and the landscape plays a critical role.”
Terminator Salvation‘s release date comes at the start of the 2009 blockbuster season and – as things stand – will pit it against family comedy sequel Night at the Museum II: Escape From The Smithsonian, starring Ben Stiller.
It will be the first Terminator movie since Rise of the Machines in 2003, which marked one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s final roles before he became governor of California. Despite lukewarm reviews, it made $150.4m (£75.7m) at the US box office.
The continued popularity of the Terminator franchise has also been echoed in new TV series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which has just started to air on Virgin 1 starring Lena Headey. The series follows the aftermath of Terminator 2: Judgment Day and is set in the present day.
No exact plot details have been revealed, although the story has been co-written by John D Brancato, Michael Ferris and David C Wilson.
Read our review of The Sarah Connor Chronicles