Ever since the company that owned the rights to the Terminator franchise at the time Terminator: Salvation was made went bankrupt, all plans for further sequels have been up in the air. A hedge fund bought the rights and said they fully intended to exploit them, but with things a bit of a mess after the fourth flick, which underperformed at the box office, many wondered whether the time travelling cyborgs would ever return to the big screen.
Now Deadline reports that Universal may be interested in licensing the rights, with Justin Lin directing the movie. Lin has become an increasingly important director for the studio after a series of high-profile flops, with the main bright points for the company being huge business for Lin’s two Fast & Furious movies, with another coming later this year. They want to keep hold of him, and it’s possible Terminator may be the way they do it.
However Universal being interested and a movie getting made are miles apart, so don’t book your tickets just yet. The Deadline story also makes it seem as if all this is being done with Arnie in mind to return (and that he may be interested), however it doesn’t actually have any hard info to that effect, other than quoting Arnie’s tweet that he’s now officially looking at acting projects again. He would seem a bit old to reprise his role as the killer cyborg, but maybe they can find a way to make it make sense.
We’re a long way from that happening yet, but with the hedge fund having paid $30 million for the rights, expect something to happen Terminator-wise soon, as they’re going to want to get their money back.