Two months ago, just days after former Governor of California
Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he was ready to make a full time return to acting and word leaked that Universal were eying up a move to bring the studio-less
Terminator franchise back to the big screen, perhaps as a vehicle for director
Justin Lin & writer
Chris Morgan, the pair responsible for the past few Fast & Furious movies. Presumably, the hope for Universal was that Arnie would agree to a starring return, or at the very least, a small cameo. Turns out it wasn't just a fleeting idea either. Doing the promotional rounds for Fast Five, Lin has spoke to Brazilian film site
Omelete (via
Bleeding Cool and translated several times between languages) revealing that he has already spoke with The Governator over a possible return to the man vs. machine saga;
The Terminator was one of my favorite movies on youth and have an idea Id love to see happen. Ive talked to Arnold , lets see Id love to do, but it must be with the right people and in certain circumstances. At the same time have more options today than there was one or two years. When you get home, Ill sit and study these options before choosing.
Of course Universal have not yet struck a deal with rights holders, hedge fund company Pacificor and even if they wanted to, now that Arnie is available and at least willing to talk about a return to the franchise it will be interesting to see what the counter move will be from Sony, Paramount, Warner Bros. and the rest of the majors? Universal's package might not be the most enticing for Pacificor. A knee-jerk reaction to Lin directing a Terminator movie would be one that has an emphasis on glitz and fast moving, action set piece driven narratives over the more sci-fi minded original movie but right now we seem a long way from anything being set in stone. And figuring out a way to bring a 63 year old Schwarzenegger back to this franchise after a ten year gap is a headscratcher for me... especially if he ends up being a non-human character.