Justin Lin Talks Possibility of Directing New 'Terminator' Film

Before I started writing here on ThinkMcFlyThink, I wrote articles for a few websites, one being TheTerminatorFans.com (if you're a die-hard Terminator fan like myself, this is the site for you).  It was for this site that I wrote this article on who should direct Terminator 5.  I remember as I was writing I had Justin Lin originally on the list.  But after reviewing the whole thing, I thought Bill Paxton was a more realistic choice.  How funny the world is.

Back in February, it was reported that Universal was interested in picking up the Terminator franchise and possibly having Justin Lin direct the next feature.  Out promoting Fast Five, Lin was recently asked about this story via Omelete.  While he does answer briefly, he apparently has spoken with Arnold Schwarzenegger about the project.

Omelete: Speaking of big-budget movies  and studio franchises, there’s a lot of talk about you getting to do the Terminator franchise.  Is this happening?  Are you looking forward to it?

Justin Lin: I think one of the great things is that when I got started, no one would return my calls, and now I get a lot of phone calls, which is good.  I have options.  Terminator was one of my favorite films growing up.  And I feel I have a take that I would love to see, and I’ve talked with Arnold and we’ve talked and we’ll see.  Again, I would love to do it, but it has to be the right circumstances.  It has to be the right people.  And there’s other projects too.  But I’m in a position now that I can choose more than I could a year ago, two years ago.  So that is something that is potentially in my future, but when I get home I will sit down and look at my options and choose what I want to do.

As much as I love Terminator, the damage that has been done is almost impossible to repair.  Both Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator Salvation completely screwed up this once great franchise.  While Justin Lin definitely seems like a capable director to handle action, it all starts with the script.  They need not a good script, a GREAT script.  Somewhere out there, someone has to be able to crack this mess of Terminator films and bring it all together.

I read a while back that co-writer of Terminator 2: Judgement Day, William Wisher, had written treatments for both T5 and T6 that connects all the dots from the previous four films.  Maybe he's done it and brought it to Universal.  We shall see.