Terminator is bound to end up on the big screen sooner rather than later, but Megan Ellison and co. are definitely still working out the kinks.

During Cannes, Ellison took a break from her super high-brow investment track (PTA, Kaufman, Hillcoat, The Coens) to nab the rights to Terminator while attempting to orchestrate Schwarzenegger’s return to the franchise. There’s been a bit of a speed bump though, as Arnold got himself all mixed up in scandal and silliness, even going so far as to pause all of his potential movie projects. According to Hollywood Insider, this won’t stop Ellison and Justin Lin’s production, which may use its amorphous approach to the franchise to its advantage.

First up is the suggestion that the story will revolve around the “original timeline being torn” and revolve around a new lead- possibly Kyle Reese and possibly a new character. Paul Walker is said to be who director Justin Lin has an eye on (not surprising) for whatever character is going to anchor the film. If it really is going back and fucking with the original timeline, then one wonders if they’ll be aping the approach that Abrams and co. used on Star Trek and plotting out an alternate timeline that both acknowledges and sidesteps established canon. In that case it was a nearly perfect way for them to have their cake and eat it too, even if the details of the execution weren’t flawless.

It’s been suggested that if this is the case, the writers may reconfigure how much Arnold plays into the story, and make his role easier to pull off in a limited amount of time. It seems weird to me though- I would assume if Arnold decides it’s time to undo his hiatus he’d be ready to do as much as necessary for a Terminator film. From what little attention I paid to that bullshit, it seemed like an across the board PR move to stall his acting and focus on his family at present – a big, absolute dramatic gesture.

It seems to me that either the filmmakers have him or they don’t. If they can pitch him to do a little work this year though, then the project seems like it would get in gear soon.

(via Dark Horizons)

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