You know what must suck? When your big casting announcement arrives shortly after telling us that Terminator 4 will be PG-13, leaving mostly everyone with a "we give up" sort of attitude.

Variety announced that rapper Common, last seen in Street Kings and soon to be onscreen in Wanted, has joined Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin and Moon Bloodgood (a varied cast indeed) in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. He'll be playing a fellow freedom fighter and member of John Connor's inner circle.

Wait, has anyone in this movie not been cast as one of Connor's best friends forever? Maybe they should cast, you know, an actual terminator so they have something to fight. Although not having one would help achieve the PG-13 rating, and Connor could just rebuild society. Skip that whole War Against The Machines; it's too violent. Throw up a Wal-Mart, a Target, a Home Depot and an Olive Garden and call it a job well done.

After a lot of hemming and hawing, some hopeful casting news, and outrage over McG being attached to direct, it looks like Terminator 4 is good to go.

There are a few things to glean from this Hollywood Reporter story. First, obviously, is what's in the headline: Moon Bloodgood, who played Generic Love Interest in Pathfinder and starred in the canceled television series Journeyman, has been cast as the female lead, a survivor of the nuclear holocaust we witnessed at the end of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. She joins Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, and Anton Yelchin. Second, notwithstanding earlier reports to the contrary, the third sequel is apparently still called Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. Finally, the movie is scheduled to begin principal photography on May 5th, which means that barring some Terry Gilliam-scale disaster, this long-speculated-about project is actually happening.

Count me among the McG skeptics. Previous installments of this franchise have been helmed by world-class action movie craftsmen (disclaimer: I am a fan of Jonathan Mostow), and I'm not convinced that McG has either the chops or the instincts to fill their shoes. The mincemeat he made of a terrific story in We Are Marshall doesn't inspire confidence, and the pyrotechnics of the Charlie's Angels films don't tell me much. That said, I'm excited for the Terminator saga to continue, since there's a lot more of this story to tell (and since Google is currently building SkyNet). Has anyone been watching the Fox TV show?

Terminator IV doesn't yet have a replacement title -- but it apparently has a Kyle Reese. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Anton Yelchin is set to star alongside Christian Bale in the franchise reboot, set for release in May 2009.

It seems a bit early to be dragging John Connor's father-to-be into the story, doesn't it? If this is really going to be an ongoing franchise, the "My dad was also my comrade" seems like a juicy plot point that might be worth holding back. Otherwise, you're just remaking The Sarah Connor Chronicles instead of that War Against the Machines saga everyone's been wanting.

But the film has not only gained a new cast member, but possibly a new writer. Paul Haggis is in talks to come on board to work on the script, with production scheduled to begin in early May. Haggis has certainly shown he can handle a franchise reboot with James Bond -- perhaps we'll see a Terminator film in the same style. One can hope.

At any rate, how thrilled must Yelchin be to land Pavel Chekhov and Kyle Reese? They should cast him as Paul Aterides next.

A rose by any other name, the sages tell us, would smell as sweet. In that spirit, Coming Soon has a story noting that the McG-helmed, Christian Bale-led fourth film in the Terminator franchise, previously known as Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, will now have a wholly different title. It will, of course, still be a wholly unnecessary extension tacked on to the first two films; it will still be directed by McG; it will still have almost nothing to do with James Cameron's original vision for the films; it will lack Arnold Schwarzenegger; however, it will not be called Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. No replacement title has yet been announced.

Currently slated for release May 2009, Terminator IV will ostensibly kick off a three-film series detailing the man-machine war that's the backbone of the Terminator films; Christian Bale (Rescue Dawn, Batman Begins) will star as the adult John Connor alongside newcomer Sam Worthington (Who, amusingly enough, is also scheduled to appear in ... James Cameron's Avatar). And yet, new name or not, I have almost no enthusiasm for this project.

Will you check Terminator IV out when it lands in May 2009, or does the cash-hungry smell of desperation and futility that lingers about this whole idea put you off?

I just can't decide.

On one hand, it seems to make perfect sense that Christian Bale is playing John Connor. Who else can save mankind? He's Batman, for crying out loud.

And yet ... it is the fourth Terminator movie. Directed by McG, who's saving grace seems to be that he's not Brett Ratner. While it fits with Bale, Ruler of Fanboys, it doesn't fit with Bale, Ruler of Critics. Bale doesn't really do sequels, let alone fourquels, especially of a character he didn't originate.

It is either going to be brilliant fun, or something that leaves us wondering what kind of dirt McG blackmailed him with. Either way, we'll find out on May 22nd, 2009. Warner Bros has announced it as the release date for Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. Fans of the franchise have been waiting forever to see Connor fight the war against the machines, and now they can start crossing off the days on the calender.

We know Christian Bale will be playing an older John Connor, and there's rumors that Josh Brolin might be in line to play the new (and improved?) Terminator, but now Variety tells us that Sam Worthington has been cast as the other lead; some dude named Marcus. This move is rather interesting, because it means James Cameron (director of Terminator and Terminator 2) has taken a liking to Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins director McG, as Cameron was the one who recommended Worthington for the new job (the actor is also starring in Cameron's Avatar). We're not sure how much influence Cameron is having on the production, but if he's managed to get Worthington into the lead role, I imagine he's offered a bunch of additional advice as well. And that can't be a bad thing.

According to Variety's description, Marcus is "a central figure in a three-picture arc that begins after Skynet has destroyed much of humanity in a nuclear holocaust. A group of survivors led by John Connor (Bale) struggles to keep the machines from finishing the job." Even though McG is at the helm -- and not Cameron -- I'm still looking forward to this one a great deal. Sort of how we were always looking forward to a Star Wars film set during the Clone Wars; well, same goes for a Terminator film set in the future. I'm already imagining some kickass battle sequences involving a small group of humans and a slew of Terminator robots. Could be very very cool. The first of the three films, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, is due out in the summer of 2009.

In a new interview over at 213.net, director McG spoke about his plans to bring the Terminator back to the big screen in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. We already know that Christian Bale has been cast as an older John Connor -- the John Connor from the future who helps lead the resistance against the robots. McG spoke about his vision for Terminator Salvation, where this film fits into the confusing timeline (thanks Sarah Connor Chronicles for jamming us all up!), and -- most importantly -- who he wants to take over for Arnold Schwarzenegger as the new (and improved) Terminator.

When pressed to answer who they're looking at to play the new Terminator, McG noted, " ... it's very difficult to say because it's a decidedly masculine role and I think we're living in a time where a lot of actors are very effeminate and they're sort of skinny, heroine chic and there's really a masculine component to the role. And there's guys out there like Russell Crowe and Eric Bana, bring a good physicality, they do what they do, but I don't know if they're exactly right at the end of the day. (Smiles) Josh Brolin is a very exciting actor - we'll see." Hmm, does that mean Brolin is one the guys up for the role? Certainly seems like McG is championing him -- whaddya think?

McG also spoke about long conversations he had with James Cameron, and how Cameron reassured him that he felt the same sort of nervous when he had to take over for Ridley Scott on the second Alien picture. When asked whether this film would take place after Terminator 2 or Terminator 3, McG replied, "This is the space between; this is post Judgment day. So there really is no continuation, you know what I mean? Its sort of a different animal, whereas the first two pictures on this thing are Terminators from the future, this picture takes place in 2019." He later added, "We speak to the idea of one version of a future, which is clearly articulated by Michael Biehn in the first picture." Check out the full interview over here; Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins is due out in June of 2009.

[via IGN]

Devin from CHUD has been doing some digging, and he claims to have come up with a bunch of different plot points, character descriptions -- what have you -- with regards to the highly-anticipated McG flick, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins (aka Terminator 4). Some of his notes, however, don't exactly match up with what the film's producers told Entertainment Weekly recently. According to CHUD, they say John Connor (played by Christian Bale) is "barely in the movie." Whereas the producers told EW that Connor "is an ongoing, very central character throughout the next trilogy. He's leading the fight for salvation of humanity against the machines. So he's very important." CHUD says Connor's role is "apparently bigger in the sequel," but that the real central character is a dude named Marcus.

Here's how CHUD describes the involvement of both Marcus and Connor: "Marcus was put 'out of commission' before the nuclear holocaust on Judgment Day and he wakes up about 15 years before the future we see in the original Terminator films, which puts the movie at about 2015 or so. Marcus is a bad ass - think along the lines of Riddick - and what he finds is a blasted world filled with horror. Radiation poisoning, starvation, rampant jaywalking - all the things you expect post-apocalypse. There's also John Connor, who is trying to build a utopian society while running the human resistance." The site goes on to describe the action sequences as "HUGE" and claims there are some battles with the T-600s. You can read more about the flick -- including some spoilers -- over at CHUD, and lets hope Devin is right when he says this film "could be epic." I'm not so sure the name McG and the word 'epic' belong in the same sentence, but you never know ...

The future is about to begin shooting this March in either Australia or Budapest, and Entertainment Weekly sat down with Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins producers Derek Anderson, Victor Kubicek and Moritz Borman to pick their brains and find out exactly what our new, older John Connor (recently announced as Christian Bale) will be up to. Probably the biggest question on everyone's mind -- once and for all -- is Arnold Schwarzenegger going to make a cameo? According to Kubicek: "He may make a cameo," and according to Anderson: "It still hasn't been determined, but if he does, it would be a very small cameo." A bunch of rumors were also squashed during the interview; one of which alluded to the fact that John Connor wouldn't play a pivotal role in the film. However, Anderson admits, "John Connor is an ongoing, very central character throughout the next trilogy. He's leading the fight for salvation of humanity against the machines. So he's very important."

So if Ahnold won't be showing up TO kick ass, what kind of characters should we expect to play opposite Christian Bale? Anderson says there will be "another major co-star with kind of equal presence in this installment." When pressed to answer whether or not that character will be a Terminator, Anderson adds: "Yes.... Well, it's hard to say. It is a new character introduced in the mythology that's not replacing Arnold [Schwarzenegger]. It's not like he's stepping into Arnold's shoes. It's a completely new character." Again, they asked, is this character a Terminator? "No, not really. That's one of the big twists that if we told you --" Head on over to EW to read the entire interview, which goes on to address the whole "why the f*ck is McG directing this?" issue. You definitely don't want to miss it.

Some rumors do and some rumors don't ...

Well, it's totally official: Christian Bale is currently in negotiations to star in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins (aka Terminator 4). The Hollywood Reporter tells us today that Bale is still talking, but he'll most likely join the project (as previously rumored) as its star, under the direction of McG. At this point, I think we're all wondering the same thing: How the f*ck did we get from James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger to McG and Christian Bale? I do not know, however the casting of Bale is definitely a step in the right direction. While THR doesn't come right out and say it, chances are Bale will play a thirty-something John Connor as he begins to wage a long, hard-fought war against a rising army of machines. No word on whether Bale will sign on for more than one film, as the Halycon Company (who picked up rights to the franchise earlier this year) have stated that they're interested in making at least three new Terminator flicks.

And while we're on the subject of Christian Bale, AICN managed to get their hands on a slew of promotional photos for this summer's The Dark Knight (see two above) -- most of which show Heath Legder as the Joker in a number of maniacal poses, with only one photo dedicated to Batman himself. We're not sure what these photos are for (perhaps magazine covers, reveals on the viral sites, etc ...), but I certainly like the way the Joker has come out. All that's left for us know is to see Ledger in action -- I want to see dialogue, I want to see it all. Rumor has it a new Dark Knight trailer (or footage of some kind) will play before IMAX screenings of I Am Legend this month, so I imagine the same footage will also arrive online (either that or a trailer) around the same time. The Dark Knight arrives in theaters this July 18. NOTE: Pics have come down at the request of the studio

Finally, that giant Hobbit rumor from the other day has been debunked. On Friday, a site called Marketsaw came out with the rumor that Peter Jackson was indeed going to direct The Hobbit, split it into two parts, with both arriving in 3D. AICN claims to have spoken with people over at the Peter Jackson camp, and they said it's not true. Things between Jackson and New Line are still not settled, even though the director is interested in 3D -- this Hobbit thing won't be happening anytime soon. They also say that Jackson, who's hard at work on The Lovely Bones, will go from that film to Tintin, which he is co-directing alongside Steven Spielberg. Will The Hobbit happen eventually? Probably. But not now and not with Jackson.

Okay, it's only in rumor form right now, but AICN is reporting that Christian Bale has signed on to play an adult John Connor in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins (aka Terminator 4), which will most likely be directed by McG. Harry himself shelled out the news, which he claims comes from an "extremely trusted source who has never been wrong before." Bale signing on to play Connor means the character will indeed be significantly older in the next film; unlike the teenage version who showed up in the form of Edward Furlong (Terminator 2) and Nick Stahl (Terminator 3) in previous films. It also means Bale will jump from one high-profile franchise (Christopher Nolan's Batman flicks) to another that, according to reports, will contain at least three films. Will Bale star in all three?

Here's the film's plot synopsis from IMDb (though we're not sure if it's entirely correct): "After the drastic effects of Terminator 3, the story continues as John Connor and soon to be wife Kate Brewster realize they must create a resistance organization with Earth's remaining survivors against the army of robots slowly being built up by Skynet. As they are building this resistance, one survivor happens to be a traitor in disguise, and has a secret that nobody would ever come to suspect." Though I'm not crazy about McG taking over the franchise, I absolutely love Christian Bale ... especially in this role as a rogue warrior up against an army of machines. Who will take over for Claire Danes and play Connor's wife (if this synopsis is correct)? Any suggestions? We'll let you know more as soon as information is available.

I'm a pretty big fan of McG's (first) Charlie's Angels film, so I'm glad to hear that the guy (born Joseph McGinty Nichol) will be stepping back into the action genre (especially after the soppily maudlin We Are Marshall) -- but based only on the three features he's done so far, does ANYONE see him as a Terminator director? James Cameron, obviously. Jonathan Mostow, makes sense. McG? Really? Well, apparently someone thinks it's a fine idea, because according to Moviehole.net, it's a done deal:

The presently-titled Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins WILL be "a McG film."

The T4 screenplay comes from John Brancato and Michael Ferris, the team that gave us Terminator 3, so that's some good news, I suppose. (On the other hand, they also wrote The Net, Primeval and Catwoman.) Plot details are a bit sketchy at this point, but I'm sure the franchise managers have a plan took keep Terminator 4 and The Sarah Connor Chronicles as completely separate mythologies. (Or do they?)

Sir Erik Davis told us a while back that the new Terminator flicks may feature some digitally-created Schwarzeneggers, so who really knows what the future holds for this series? More details on the Terminators sequel(s) and spinoff(s) once they hit the street. But this does raise an interesting question: Does what you know of the Terminator series "mesh" with what you know of the artistry of McG? Yeah, I'm still scratching my head over this one ... but of course I'm also a bit more curious about the flick at this point.

Entertainment Weekly has published the first photo of Owain Yeoman as one of the new evil Terminator's in The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a new show hitting Fox this January (click on the image for a larger version courtesy of Coming Soon). The series picks up, time-wise, after Terminator 2: Judgment Day, while Sarah Connor (played by the very lovely Lena Headey, 300) and her son John (Thomas Dekker) are on the run from the authorities and, well, evil robots. Eventually, they decide to stop running and confront their problems head-on. To make things interesting, John meets a girl at school (Summer Glau) who turns out to be the new Terminator sent to protect him and Sarah. In addition to the television show, we'll also be getting three more Terminator films, all of which (we believe) will take place in the future and not in present day. Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins (aka Terminator 4) may or may not be directed by McG and is scheduled to hit theaters in 2009.

What do you think about this new Terminator TV series? Does it have any promise, or do you not see it making it past the first season?

To be honest, after watching some of that teaser footage for Vin Diesel's latest foray into science fiction, Babylon A.D., I kind of got the impression that the actor's career could be on a downward trajectory. Now, First Showing.net has gotten a first look at the poster for the film during ShowEast ... and in my opinion? Let's just say it's not helping -- to me there is nothing less futuristic-looking than "futuristic sunglasses." I know it's a small thing, but there isn't much else going on in the poster so it's not like I can ignore it. This probably won't be the final poster for the film, and there have also been rumblings about a teaser making an appearance some time in December.

Directed by Gothika's Mathieu Kassovitz, the story centers on Diesel as a veteran-turned-mercenary who signs up to transport a young woman from Russia to China. Of course, in a dystopia nothing is ever that simple, and it turns out that the woman is "host to an organism that a cult wants to harvest in order to produce a genetically modified Messiah." Joining Diesel are Michelle Yeoh, Charlotte Rampling, and RocknRolla's Mark Strong.

Even though Babylon hasn't been getting much press, fans are still holding out for the "return of Diesel." Of course, there is still the possibility that Diesel will be taking over in Terminator 4 -- lord knows he has the emotional range for it. Plus, Fast and The Furious 4 is still on track with Diesel back in the driver's seat. So at least he is going to have a couple more chances at redeeming himself for The Pacifier. Babylon A.D is set for release on February 9th, 2008.

Well it's not like there have been a shortage of rumors surrounding the return of everyone's favorite cyborg. But it's a nice change to finally get some concrete information. Variety reports that Warner Bros. have purchased the distribution rights to the latest installment in the Terminator franchise. Now for the big news: we've finally gotten a title -- drum roll please -- Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. Not bad, and it definitely gives me the impression that WB is in this for the long haul. According to Variety, WB are planning to, "reinvent the cyborg saga with a storyline to be told over a three-pic span". Executive producer Moritz Bowman told The Guardian UK, "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". The project has been struggling through legal battles with MGM over distribution rights. But all of that is behind them, and WB is anxious to get the project moving.

More importantly, this means that the film has been kicked into high-gear and now has a start date set for 2008. John Brancato and Michael Ferris (the writers behind Terminator 3) have already handed in a completed script, but there has still been no official announcement regarding a director (the bad news is that McG seems to be the front runner for the job). Already WB is promising one heck of a spectacle for the film, with what was described as "an event-size" budget. Hopefully, they will be able to keep it under T3's $200 million price tag. Now if they can only figure out who will be playing The Terminator, we might have something. Sure, there was that wacky story about Vin Diesel taking over but nothing has been made official. Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins is scheduled for release in the summer of 2009.