Terminator Re-booted

Dead franchise reboot alert!

Warner Bros. has acquired the North American distribution rights to the next installment in the Terminator franchise. Tentatively titled Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins (The Future Begins??? How can the future begin???), the pic is slated for an early 2008 production start so that it can be ready for summer 2009.

Originally MGM was slated to distribute the film, but litigation with Halycon- the privately held company that recently obtained the rights to the franchise, has led to the new deal with WB- which played a similar role for 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

The film is intended to be the first installment of a new trilogy which will take place in the Skynet controlled, post-apocalyptic future only glimpsed in the first three installments. The film will supposedly carry an event sized budget, but lower than the $200 million T3 price tag.

No word on whether Arnold Schwarzenegger will be involved with the relaunch. Considering the governor's advancing age and new career- it's doubtful.

Overall- a new Terminator franchise is not a bad idea- as long as they make an effort to be different from the previous trilogy. Nobody needs to see a Terminator remake, as the original films hold up perfectly well. Making the films without Schwarzenegger is probably a good idea. He no longer looks the part, and if he did sign on- he salary would be astronomical. One of the many problems with Terminator 3 was that it looked fairly low-rent considering the reported budget. One wonders how much of the budget went to Schwarzennegger.

There seems to be a tendency these days towards rebooting dead franchises. Warner Bros in particular has employed these tactics before- with Batman getting a successful re-launch in 2005 with Batman Begins, and Superman a less than successful reboot the following year with Superman Returns.

While it could be tempting to claim that franchise renewal is simply a sign Hollywood has run out of ideas, Batman Begins, and the James Bond relaunch, Casino Royale, prove that sometimes injecting some new blood into stagnant franchises can be a good thing- provided they take some risks with the characters.

Casino Royale & Batman Begins were successful because the filmmakers behind them took risks. Superman Retuns underperformed because director Bryan Singer was too slavishly faithful to the Richard Donner films from the seventies- films which were never that great to begin with.
To be successful, Halycon needs to bring on a helmer who's not afraid to shake-up the franchise.

Supposedly McG is the front runner to direct the new Terminator. I for one loathed the Charley's Angels films almost as much as I hate people who adopt monikers like McG. Still, McG might have it in him to deliver a solid new franchise- provided he's learned from the fiasco that was Charley's Angels:Full Throttle and doesn't attempt to make another empty popcorn film. Last year's maudlin, but effective We Are Marshall proves that if he is brought on board, maybe he does have a truly good film in him.

Provided they change that awful title.