Howard will be taking the place of Charlotte Gainsbourg who was set to play Kate Connor, the wife of human resistance hero John Connor, played by Christian Bale, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with another film she had already committed to. I can’t even begin to imagine how awful Charlotte Gainsbourg has to be feeling right about now since the other film is a nothing French comedy that no one in the states will probably ever see.

The character of Kate Connor was first introduced in Terminator 3 as Kate Brewster and was played by Claire Danes. Kate Brewster was actually the one who sent the last terminator that was played by Arnold back in time to protect John (since John had been assassinated by the same terminator on July 4, 2032).

In case you aren’t aware, Bryce Dallas Howard first gained attention as an actress in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village and later as the title role in Lady In The Water. She also played Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in As You Like It.

I think she’s a great addition to the cast. She’s a good actress and she has a lot of credibility. There’s one thing we can definitely say about the producers of the new Terminator trilogy and that is that they are putting together an impressive cast of up and coming actors along with the already well established Christian Bale. If these movies don’t work, it won’t be because of the acting.

According to the BBC News:

The Welsh-born star, who is soon to be seen in Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight, has already started shooting the first of those films, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.

“He’s really an actor’s actor, so we’re very proud,” said Victor Kubicek of film company Halcyon.

“Christian was our first choice and he’s a big fan of The Terminator, so we’re very lucky,” Kubicek told the BBC at the Cannes Film Festival.

“But with Batman he’s already done the whole franchise thing, so we weren’t sure he’d respond.”

Luckily, said Kubicek’s business partner Derek Anderson, “he read the script and he loved it, so he’s signed on for all three.”

The first installment in the trilogy is being directed by McG and is set to hit theaters on May 22, 2009. That’s right about a year from now if you’re keeping track.

Common will play a freedom fighter and member of John Connor’s (played by Christian Bale) inner circle. The story of the film centers on John Connor who is now in his 30s and who now leads what is left of the human race in a battle against the machines.

The cast list right now looks like this:

• Christian Bale – John Connor, leader of the resistance
• Sam Worthington – a central character in the planned three picture arc
• Anton Yelchin – Connor’s friend and future father Kyle Reese
• Moon Bloodgood – a no-nonsense and battle-hardened member of the resistance who is carrying a lot of guilt over surviving the nuclear holocaust
• Common – freedom fighter and member of John Connor’s inner circle
• Josh Brolin (rumored) – director mentioned him as an ideal Terminator, but has not been confirmed for the cast

McG is directing from a script by John D. Brancato, Michael Ferris, and Paul Haggis.

Terminator 4 is set to hit theaters on May 22, 2009.

In fact, The Hollywood Reporter reports that Moon Bloodgood is in final negotiations to join the cast of the film as the female lead. Most of you will probably remember Bloodgood from NBC’s short-lived series “Journeyman” (or ABC’s short-lived series “Day Break”).

In the fourth installment of the “Terminator” movie series Bloodgood will play a no-nonsense and battle-hardened member of the resistance who is carrying a lot of guilt over surviving the nuclear holocaust. She will be joining Christian Bale, Sam Worthington and Anton Yelchin who have already been cast in the film.

Principal photography is set to begin May 5, with Charlie’s Angels director McG at the helm. Terminator 4 is set for release on May 22, 2009.

The UGO Movie Blog first reported it:

McG’s “T4�, which was in active pre-production for a May 2009 release, may have been shut down by Warner Brothers.  According to my source, a crew member was recently overheard discussing his newfound free schedule due to the production shutting down.

Wow.

Obviously, as everyone is saying, none of this has been confirmed at all and it was just something overheard. It’s just as likely as it isn’t true I guess.

If the project is scrapped, is anyone that upset over it? I have to say, I was BEGINNING to anticipate this a little more, especially with the news that it would connect with The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

But if it doesn’t happen, it’s not the end of the world for me. What about you guys?

The previous films had eluded to the fact that Reese and grown-up John Connor were both best friends and around 30 years old. Well, with Yelchin being cast, he’ll be playing a Kyle Reese about half that age. So instead of best friends, there may be more of a father-son relationship.

Cinema Blend compares what they’ll have to that of Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi.

We read that Reese isn’t just a bit part, he’s going to be the central figure in this movie and the upcoming sequels.

The other huge tidbit is that the movie could actually end up connecting and following storyline from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Those movies by the way, our source says “will also address the terminators and their evolution including the terminators of the first three films.� And somewhat surprising, there may actually be direct connections between the movie and the recently aired Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series. Our source says, “they might connect the TV Series to the original three films as well but that depends if for one Fox decided to continue the series and if the people in charge want to have those plot lines cross over with this new trilogy.

Hopefully, as Cinema Blend suggests, this will definitely cause Fox to renew the series (which I sort of have heard is already a given).

According to Terminator mythology (which is getting more complicated all the time), Reese was born after the first war and survived the capture and killing of his fellow humans only to be put into one of Skynet’s concentration camps. John Connor, Reese’s son, led a resistance movement that freed Reese and some others from the Skynet camp. Reese then volunteered to go back in time to the year 1984 to protect Sarah Connor, the mother of John Connor who is the resistance leader, from a Terminator sent by Skynet to kill her before she can give birth to John to stop him from leading the resistance.

As will sometimes happen when you time travel, Reese gets into some shenanigans that actually bring about the future he’s trying to save…don’t ask me about the paradox effect. All I know is that while running from the Terminator (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger), Reese and Sarah have a night of “relations” that ultimately impregnates Sarah and brings about her son, John. Reese was later killed by his own pipe-bomb while attempting to destroy the Terminator. I’m not sure how the TV series has added to this story.

Now, from what we know about Terminator 4, Reese becomes friends with Marcus (played by Sam Worthington – now cutting his chops on James Cameron’s Avatar), an early version of the Terminator played by Arnold Schwarzenegger from the first film. Christian Bale will play a 30 year old John Connor now fighting desperately to save a decimated civilization against machines that have taken control. Other plot details are still sketchy.

With production scheduled to start in early May, Paul Haggis (writer of Crash, Casino Royale, Quantum Of Solace) also has been in talks about coming on board to do some rewrites on the script. David Campbell Wilson, John Brancato and Michael Ferris wrote the screenplay.

So what do you think? Will Anton Yelchin make a good Reese?

That’s right, it didn’t take them long at all to think of a title even dumber than the title they got rid of (somehow I knew it wouldn’t). Terminator 4 shall henceforth be known as Terminator: The Return of the Terminator. For some reason, every time I say that the song “Return of the Mack” pops into my head.

No, doesn’t sound any better when you write it out all by itself and say it over and over to yourself. I’m not a terminator expert or anything, but I don’t even think it makes sense.

What do you guys think? Good title? Stupid Title? Better than the last title?

The initial name, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, has been dumped in favor of…well, nothing. Yet.

As of right now, according to ComingSoon.net, the film no longer has a title. And there isn’t really anymore information on why not.

UPDATE: Yeah, it has a title now, didn’t take too long and it sucks. I wish they’d taken my suggestion below instead.

The only explanation is the fact that the title just isn’t going over well and I for one am glad they are making this change. While I’m one who likes the Quantum of Solace name, this Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins was just too long for my tastes.

Now, I do like a shorter version: Terminator: The Future Begins. It sort of goes along with the previous good film: Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

The movie stars Christian Bale and Sam Worthington, and is set to release on May 22nd, 2009.

The movie has a working title, “Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins“, which seems like a mouthful and will likely be changed. I hope so at least. We’ll call it Terminator 4 for now.

There doesn’t appear to be an official synopsis yet, but I found this on IMDB, posted by Anonymous:

After the drastic effects of Terminator 3, the story continues as John Connor and soon to be wife Kate Brewster realize they must create a resistance organization with Earth’s remaining survivors against the army of robots slowly being built up by Skynet. As they are building this resistance, one survivor happens to be a traitor in disguise, and has a secret that nobody would ever come to suspect.

Supposedly this will be an entirely new cast of actors, no holdovers from Terminator 3, no Arnold. I don’t even remember what the “drastic effects” were in the last film, might be time to re-watch it.

Terminator Chronicles has some other news on the plot, from James Middleton, who is the producer of The Sarah Connor Chronicles. One interesting point from it:

“…the movie will feature a new hero as the main character. Middleton likened it to how “Ben-Hur was influenced by Jesus Christ, but it was his story. Much in that way, this character will be influenced by John Connor.”

Well, the big thing here is Bale. Getting him to sign on for the film is a huge acquisition. He is at the top of his game right now, massively popular and super talented. From The Machinist, to Batman Begins to Rescue Dawn, which just came out on DVD, Bale has been ripping up the reviews and making a big name for himself.

His being attached to Terminator 4 will give it a credibility it didn’t get in the last film.

The film is scheduled to be released in the Summer of 2009, so we are a long way off, but I’ll mark this down as the first movie I’m looking forward to that year.

What about you guys? Are you looking forward to a new Terminator?