'Terminator' Releasing May 22, 2009

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CHRISTIAN BALE The ''Batman'' star will play John Connor in the first of three planned ''Terminator'' films

(FROM VARIETY) – Warner Bros. will premiere the McG-directed Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins on May 22, 2009, the start of Memorial Day weekend. The movie, which stars Christian Bale (Sam Worthington is also in talks to star), will go up against Twentieth Century Fox's Night at the Museum II: Escape From the Smithsonian, which also opens that weekend. Warner is distributing Terminator in North America through a deal with Halcyon Co., which owns all franchise rights to the series. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group has acquired all foreign distribution rights except for Korea and some Middle Eastern countries, according to Hollywood Reporter. The project is the first in a planned trilogy that begins after Skynet destroyed much of the human race in a nuclear holocaust. John Connor (Bale) must lead a group of people to try and stop the machines. The last Terminator movie, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, opened in 2003 and grossed $150.4 million domestically. Shooting on the new movie is scheduled to begin May 5 of this year. (Variety)