'Terminator 5' Gets Greenlit Early

The apocalyptic robot flick, “Terminator Salvation” might be at least six months away, but its sequel has already been greenlit. Work on it wasn’t supposed to commence until after ‘Salvation’ had hit theaters in the early summer of 2009, but the producers are so psyched and encouraged by the “positive studio, fan and media reaction” to footage and photos of the film, they’ve decided to forge ahead of schedule.

Wait, is reaction that positive? Sure, the nerds are geeked on it, but what sci-fi/action films are they not geeked about? We tentatively think this could be OK, but McG does direct films like he’s on amphetamines, so who knows.

Christian Bale is signed on for three Terminator franchise films which means he might be caught up in the nonsense for years (does that mean we’ve seen the last of him in solid dramatic films like, “The Prestige” or “Rescue Dawn”? Let’s hope not). The middle East could be a location for the film and a potential 2011 date has been thrown around. Let’s hope this decision to move forward early doesn’t bite them in the ass if ‘T4’ underperforms. [Variety]