Thanks to Mr.Trick
NEW YORK (Variety) - After a decade, the Terminator is back, and it looks as if Indiana Jones is right behind him. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed to reprise his role as the cyborg in ``Terminator 3,'' scheduled for a spring 2001 start in Los Angeles for a summer 2002 release.
Meanwhile, writer/director M. Night Shyamalan (''The Sixth Sense'') is talking with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford about scripting a fourth installment of the ''Indiana Jones'' series, which Spielberg would direct in 2002. Sources close to James Cameron, the writer/director of the first two
``Terminator'' films, said he is talking with Schwarzenegger about returning to the fold, but that he is currently not attached to the project. The third installment of the blockbuster ``Terminator'' franchise will be produced by Mario Kassar and Andy Vajna through their C-2 Pictures banner. No domestic distribution is in place.
Last fall, the duo baptized C-2 banner by formalizing plans to develop the third and fourth installments of the ''Terminator'' film series simultaneously. The producers said they planned to make the films with or without Schwarzenegger, who starred in the first two installments, and despite the fact that Cameron previously stated he had no intention of revisiting the property, which he created with Gale Ann Hurd. C-2 has always said it would move forward on ``T3'' by spring 2001 whether the film had a domestic distributor in place. However, no Schwarzenegger film has had to troll for domestic distribution since the days of ``Pumping Iron,'' so it seems highly unlikely that a studio will be able to resist. But which studio? Cameron created the franchise, co-writing and directing
``The Terminator'' (1984) and ``Terminator 2: Judgement Day'' (1991). Sources close to Cameron say that the only way he will direct ``T3'' is if Fox handles the film, thanks to the bonding experience they shared during ``Titanic.''
Cameron and Schwarzenegger were interested in reteaming on a third film at Fox until Kassar and Vajna swooped in to pay $8 million for the underlying rights of the ``Terminator'' franchise in the 1997 Carolco Pictures bankruptcy auction.
The move came as a blow to Cameron; sources close to the director said he had created a very clear vision for ``T3'' and was planning to make it his next picture but would not do the film as long as Vajna and Kassar controlled the property.
Vajna and Kassar nearly closed a deal to sell the ''Terminator'' rights to 20th Century Fox in early 1999, but Fox fell out of ``T3'' because C-2 brought in co-financiers Japan's Toho-Towa (and later, Germany's VCL) to partner, thereby diluting the value of any deal.
Now that Schwarzenegger has embraced ``T3'' and is wooing Cameron, it seems conceivable that Fox might sign up for another go. Cameron is planning to produce ``True Lies 2'' at Fox, again with Schwarzenegger in the lead.
Still, Fox would have to swallow some tough ``T3'' terms: Toho-Towa and VCL are equity partners in the property, each slated to receive a 25% slice of worldwide revenues from all future ``Terminator'' product as well as all distribution rights for Japan and German-speaking territories, respectively. Given the performance of the two previous ``Terminator'' titles, however, there could be enough coin to make everybody happy. C-2 also expects to broaden the franchise with deals involving Internet and interactive companies.
The back-to-back production plan for ``T3'' and ``T4'' has been adjusted somewhat. While ``Tank Girl'' scribe Tedi Sarafian's ``T3'' script is ready to go, ``T4'' is still in development and being written by David Wilson (MGM's ''Rollerball'' remake).
``We've been working long and hard to bring 'Terminator' back to the screen and to have Arnold aboard,'' Vajna and Kassar said in a statement. ``This project reunites a team that has had fantastic success, and we look forward to working together again on this much anticipated project.''
``My big wish is that Jim Cameron and I will work together again (on T3),'' Schwarzenegger said.
As for ``Indiana Jones,'' the effort to mount a sequel has been long and fruitless since Spielberg, Lucas and Ford agreed in 1993 to make a fourth picture. The third installment, ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,'' hit theaters in 1989.
The three decided at the time to only do a film if all were involved and mutually approved the concept and script. Numerous scripts have been written, and Spielberg, Lucas and Ford have often been preoccupied with other things.
The campaign to draft the inventive Shyamalan indicates the trio is serious about putting the film into production sometime in 2002.
No deal is in place, but sources said indications are strong that Shyamalan will start writing in January, once he completes ``Unbreakable,'' a script for which he was paid $10 million by Disney to write and direct, with Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson starring.
Paramount, which distributed the first three films in the series via a deal with Lucas' Lucasfilm banner, is expected to be involved as well. The box office returns on ``Mission: Impossible 2'' have reinforced the value of audience-tested characters, and studios all over town are trying to overcome creative and financial obstacles to put together sequels to smash hit films.
Columbia and Spielberg's Amblin banner turned a corner recently in the attempt to reteam Barry Sonnenfeld with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in a ``Men in Black'' sequel when a script by Robert Gordon was delivered. Warner Bros. has been equally aggressive on continuing its ''Superman'' saga. Now armed with a script by William Wisher (''Terminator 2''), WB has been meeting with prospective directors, including Ralph Zondag (''Dinosaur''). No actor has driven more franchises than Ford, counting ''Star Wars,'' ``Indiana Jones'' and the Jack Ryan series. However, Paramount suffered a setback recently when Ford nixed plans for a fourth appearance as Ryan in ``The Sum of All Fears,'' which was to have been directed by Phillip Noyce. Paramount is back to the drawing board on that picture. Meanwhile, it looks likely that when Ford next reprises a franchise character, he'll be wearing his signature Stetson and cracking a bullwhip as the death-defying archaeologist Indiana Jones.