‘Terminator 5′ is Likely Dead, No Progress on Schwarzenegger’s Return

Excited about 'Terminator 5' and Arnold Schwarzenegger's return to the franchise? It might be time to temper those expectations. The latest word on 'Terminator 5' is that there is no word and the project may be, pardon the pun, terminated.

Moviehole reports that 'Terminator 5' is officially on "hold" but unofficially will likely never happen. So how did we get from Schwarzenegger openly discussing his desire to return to the franchise and director Justin Lin ('Fast Five') becoming attached to develop the film to a dead project?

Well, it turns out a lot of things contributed to the project's demise.

First, Schwarzenegger commands script approval for his projects and he only wanted to do 'Terminator 5' if it was much better than 'Terminator 3' or 'Terminator Salvation.' Despite cooking up a decent premise with Lin, no one was happy with the script. When it became clear there were struggles developing a script, Schwarzenegger moved on to a number of other projects (including 'The Last Stand' and 'The Tomb,' both releasing in 2013) and Justin Lin went on to direct 'Fast Six.'

The concept would've reunited Schwarzenegger with Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn as the 'Terminator 5' plot would've "would’ve centered on an alternate timeline in which Sarah Connor, Kyle Reese lived," according to Moviehole.

While another project might have the time and ability to wait for the director, star and producer to all come to an agreement on a project, 'Terminator 5' doesn't have that luxury. Schwarzenegger is currently 65 and could be 70 by the time this is all figured out (and, honestly, as much as we love the 'Terminator' movies, does anyone want to see a 70-year-old Terminator?).

All this said, it's likely we'll eventually get some kind of 'Terminator' movie in the future (producer Megan Ellison paid too much for the rights to see them wasted) but unfortunately one without Arnold Schwarzenegger or any of the classic cast. Can you say reboot?f