Shooting will begin in 2008 on Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, which promises to "reinvent the cyborg saga with a storyline to be told over a three-pic span".

Production company Halcyon is keen to stress that the movie will indeed be a "reinvention", as executive producer Moritz Borman told Variety: "The third film was really the conclusion of what happened in the 'now'. You will find the most-loved characters, but the intention here is to present a fresh new world and have this be the first of a trilogy."

Halcyon co-CEO Derek Anderson teased: "This is set in the future, in a full-scale war between Skynet and humankind."

Terminator 3 writers John Brancato and Michael Ferris have already completed the Terminator Salvation screenplay, and Charlie's Angels director McG is hotly tipped to take the helm. The film is slated for a summer 2009 release.

Regarding the possible participation of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Borman said: "We've left it open for him to maybe do a cameo. He has an important job, as we know, and the final decision will be based on his desire and availability, along with what the director wants." ®

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