Moon Bloodgood: battling robots in the futureThings are moving forward on Terminator 4 (the first part of an intended future-set trilogy). It was previously reported that the film's silly working title Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins has been ditched, but it's still being used to refer to T4. McG (Charlie's Angels) is also still in charge, and he'll begin principle photography on 5 May -- aiming for a summer-2009 release.
The main reason to be keeping faith in T4 (after the humdrum T3) is the casting of Christian Bale as adult John Connor. It's perfect casting and Bale's hot property now thanks to Batman Begins – plus, he has a keen eye when it comes to film choices (The Prestige/3:10 To Yuma/Rescue Dawn) and amazing commitment to screen roles (The Machinist). Surely he wouldn't sign on the dotted line for T4 unless he was convinced the script and director are a perfect marriage?
Bale is joined on the project by Anton Yelchin (Chekov in next summer's Star Trek reboot) and Sam Worthington – who was apparently steered McG's way by James Cameron! Worthington is currently the lead in Cameron's upcoming 3-D sci-fi epic Avatar, so it's another good omen that Cameron (the father of the Terminator franchise) has personally helped cast T4, isn't it?
Today, it's also been confirmed that sexy Moon Bloodgood (fabulous name, fabulous body) has been cast as the female lead, a survivor of apocalyptic Judgment Day. You may remember her from roles in short-lived TV series Day Break and Journeyman, as well as being the love-interest in Pathfinder.
So there you have it. Terminator's heading back to the silver screen, without Arnold Schwarzenegger. Are you excited? Or has the Terminator franchise lost its sheen thanks to a mediocre third part and an entertaining (if still ill-advised) television series? And how will Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles fit into the overall chronology? Will T4 be honouring its back-story, or can the film and TV strands of the Terminator universe be considered different entities now?