There has been a ton of positive buzz for Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s The Last Stand, which is Arnold’s first lead role since leaving the Governor’s office. As of now it’s rated pretty highly on Rotten Tomatoes, and Schwarzenegger is EVERYWHERE promoting it. As he prepares for future roles that will revisit two of his previous hits — sequels to both Conan the Barbarian and Twins — it’s important to note that the next entry in his most famous franchise, the Terminator series, has taken a major step forward even if Arnold isn’t officially involved yet.
Just over a month ago I reported that producer Megan Ellison (who currently holds the Terminator rights) and Annapurna Pictures teamed up with her brother David Ellison and his Skydance Productions in order to get moving on a new Terminator film with or without Arnold. It’s incredibly important for the Ellisons to get this project moving because Megan Ellison’s rights to the franchise expire in 2019, which then revert to Terminator creator James Cameron.
Today Deadline is reporting that the Ellisons have chosen the writers for the next movie in the Terminator franchise, Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier. Kalogridis wrote Shutter Island, Pathfinder, and co-wrote Alexander, and she also has a James Cameron connection because she co-wrote the screenplay for Cameron’s long-in-development Battle Angel and was an executive producer on Avatar. While Lussier is better known as an editor, he co-wrote and directed the Dracula 2000 trilogy and Drive Angry.
Could Kalogridis hiring suggest that the Ellisons are trying to get Cameron back involved in the project? At the end of 2011 reports said that Schwarzenegger had gotten Cameron to attend a few meetings about the next film, but since neither Schwarzenegger nor Cameron are officially involved at this point that seems to no longer be the case.
Though I have no desire to see a fifth Terminator film (I didn’t want to see a third or fourth one either), the only way I would look forward to it is if both Cameron and Schwarzenegger were somehow involved with it. Otherwise there are plenty of other sci-fi action films out there that are telling compelling original stories.
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