"Terminator 5" no more: Franchise reboot instead

It's official: the powers that be have formally given up on the existing Terminator timeline and have announced they will go back to the beginning with a complete reboot. To me this is more than a little disappointing as I felt the most recent installment "Terminator Salvation" had put the franchise back on solid footing after the fairly abysmal "Rise of the Machines". But the new owners of the property apparently felt they needed to start fresh in order to maximize their ROI before rights revert back to James Cameron a few years down the line.

While it's not mentioned in the official announcement below it's also common knowledge that Paramount will be bringing back Ahnuld for the reboot though how that's going to work is anyone's guess at this point.

Here's the official press release from Paramount:

Skydance Productions, Annapurna Pictures and Paramount Pictures have jointly announced they will partner on a rebooted “TERMINATOR” movie, to be released by Paramount Pictures on June 26, 2015. 

The first in a stand-alone trilogy, “TERMINATOR” will be produced by Megan Ellison of Annapurna and David Ellison of Skydance. Dana Goldberg and Paul Schwake of Skydance will serve as executive producers. Laeta Kalorgridis (“Avatar,” “Shutter Island”) and Patrick Lussier (“Drive Angry”) are attached to write the screenplay. 

Launched in 1984 with star Arnold Schwarzenegger as the title character, “TERMINATOR” spanned 3 subsequent films, which have earned over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. 

David Ellison most recently executive produced, along with his partners at Paramount, “World War Z,” “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” and “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”. A 5th installment of in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise is in active development, along with a 3rd film in the “G.I. Joe” franchise, among other films. 

Megan Ellison most recently produced the Academy Award®-nominated “Zero Dark Thirty,” “The Master” and executive produced “Spring Breakers” via her Annapurna Pictures banner and has David O. Russell’s “American Hustle,” Spike Jonze’s “Her,” and Bennett Miller’s “Foxcatcher” set for release later this year.