Arnold Schwarzenegger signs on for Terminator IV

[HMG Celebrity News] – He said he’d be back and Arnold Schwarzenegger is a man of his word – the former Republican Governor has just signed to revisit the role that made his career as the star of Terminator 4.

Now 63, Arnold first grabbed public attention as the unstoppable cyborg in James Cameron’s low-budget, high-impact 1984 original. The franchise then succumbed to mismanagement and was bought at a bankruptcy auction in February last year by the California hedge fund, Pacificor. Now they want payback.

There’s no script or even a screenwriter yet, but Arnold is set to return as the cyborg and Justin Lin – who helmed the Vin Diesel movie ‘Fast Five’ which opens on Friday – is on board to direct.

Despite the lack of a story the giant talent agency, CAA is now shopping the movie to potential backers and Universal, Sony, Lionsgate and CBS Films are all very keen. The price? $36-million, plus the budget, plus Arnold’s check.

But there’s a snag – Pacificor have said they plan to make two back-to-back sequels to conclude the story and exit the franchise. If they don’t get both films released before 2018 the rights to the Terminator package revert to James Cameron, and that could be very costly for them.

Most sequels are a greed-driven creative cop-out, but this one has a point; The story needs an ending, and that should include Arnold. Depending on the script this could be either a fitting conclusion or an unceasing disaster – which is your view?

Source: Deadline