Anton Yelchin is in negotiations to portray post - apocalyptic warrior Kyle Reese in director McG’s Terminator 4 ( Which is still untitled, I say they just call it T4: The Future Begins )..

Preparations are still bubbling away on the Terminator 4 movie, which has alas lost its title, but could have gained a Kyle Reese.. Given that it’s a story about the surviving the robot - apocalypse, a serial number designation and a key character for surviving that apocalypse is all it needs anyway..

Anton Yelchin, is in negotiations to take on the role of teen version of the Kyle Reese role, the man who fathered world savior John Connor in the original Terminator film, who was played by Michael Biehn.. Since Anton is currently playing young Pavel Chekov in the new Star Trek movie, if he steps into the role of Kyle Reese that would certainly cement his genre cred..

We all thought Shia LaBeouf was going to be the next big young male star after he was taken under Spielberg’s wing and cast in Disturbia, Transformers, and Indiana Jones IV.. But Anton Yelchin may instead beat Shia to the punch in the next few years.. After making one hell of a mainstream intro in Alpha Dog and Charlie Bartlett, Anton was cast in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek as a young Chekov.. Now he joins McG’s upcoming Terminator 4, which is currently gearing up to go into production, as a young Kyle Reese..

According to Terminator mythology, Reese was born after the first war, and survived the capture and killing of his fellow humans only to serve as a Sonderkommando in one of Skynet’s concentration camps.. A a resistance movement, led by John Connor, freed Reese and others from Skynet.. Reese volunteered to travel back in time to the year 1984, in order to protect the young Sarah Connor, the known mother of resistance leader John Connor, from a Terminator sent by Skynet.. On the run from the Terminator ( Played by Arnold Schwarzenegger ), Reese and Sarah shared a night of intimacy, in which her future son was conceived.. Reese was later killed by his own pipe - bomb while attempting to destroy the Terminator..

In Terminator 4, Reese, one of the children who survived a machine - driven nuclear holocaust, befriends Marcus ( Played by Avatar’s Sam Worthington ), an early version of the Terminator cyborg played in previous films by Arnold Schwarzenegger.. Christian Bale plays a 30 - year - old John Connor.. Terminator 4 is the first film in a three film story arc.. The more and more I hear about the plot of this film, the more excited I get.. I’m not sure about Yelchin as Reese, but there is no denying that he’s a talented actor.. I’m very surprised at the level of talent they have been able to attract to this project so far..

The film picks up with their son ( Bale ), now in his 30’s, fighting desperately to save a decimated civilization against machines that have taken control.. It’s unclear if the father and child reunion is only a cyborg motion away in the new film..

While it had been previously been reported that Sam Worthington was joining the cast as another Terminator, it’s interesting to learn that T4 will follow the pattern of the later movies, and the Sarah Connor Chronicles television show, by having a “ sympathetic ” cyborg character..

With the Terminator production set to start in May, when a genre fan’s heart lightly turns to large explosive movies, Paul Haggis ( Casino Royale, Million Dollar Baby ) is in negotiations to put the final gloss on the T4 script..

Terminator fans have been in a mini - uproar since the news broke yesterday that Anton Yelchin had been hired to play a teenage version of Kyle Reese opposite Christian Bale as John Connor in Terminator 4.. At issue is the age difference, which would make Reese more like Connor’s little brother than the best friends the franchise had previously set them up as..

Today though we’ve gotten some detailed information from one of our most reliable scoopers on just how this whole Reese / Connor thing is going to work.. They have confirmed Reese won’t be some bit player in the movie.. Instead, he “ will be the central character in the films..” Our source compares it to Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen in the Star Wars prequels, saying “ Just like the Star Wars prequels when it was the relationship between Anakin and Obi Wan that drove the three films, that’s the concept for the new Terminator films when its between the relationship of Kyle and John, who is really father and son but with the moral dilemma with John knowing what has to be done in order for him to be born..”

So maybe there’s a massive age difference between John Connor and Kyle Reese, but it sounds like Reese will still be a huge part of not only this movie, but any future Terminator movies..

Those movies by the way, our source says “ will also address the terminators and their evolution including the terminators of the first three films..” And somewhat surprising, there may actually be direct connections between the movie and the recently aired Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series.. Our source says, “ they might connect the TV Series to the original three films as well but that depends if for one Fox decided to continue the series and if the people in charge want to have those plot lines cross over with this new trilogy..”

The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been great, and though there’s been no official decision on it yet, all indications are that the series will eventually get a second season.. Now maybe there’s even more incentive for Fox to make that second season happen, if they can tie the TV series and the new movie together..

We can also expect an ” evolution ” of the terminator models ( Presumably including Sam Worthington; supposedly the lead character of the trilogy ).. Not to mention, McG & Co. might even go as far as to connect this new trilogy to the currently running Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles television series!

In other Terminator 4 news, while long - time Terminator make - up artist Jeff Dawn revealed that he’ll be unavailable for the fourth installment.. He nonetheless confirmed that effects - wizard ( And longtime Terminator collaborator ) Stan Winston will return!

Dawn said that he would not be working on Terminator 4 because he is about to start work on The Surrogates starring Bruce Willis and directed by Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines director Jonathan Mostow..

Click Here to watch the entire interview with Dawn..

I find myself amazed by how this film sounds more interesting by the day.. Now if only they can come up with a better title..

I think people would be more apt to take McG seriously if he dropped the silly high school style nickname and just go with his real name of Joseph McGinty Nichol.. Seriously, what’s wrong with Joe Nichol? I mean, unless you are a rapper or a member of the Golden Archs’ menu you shouldn’t have a one word name, especially if it starts with ” Mc..” On top of that, McG’s directorial filmography doesn’t help him if he plans on winning over Terminator fanboys that probably didn’t rush out to see either Charlie’s Angels films or The O.C., and We are Marshall just doesn’t help at all..

So, when McG compares his upcoming Terminator film to how Chris Nolan tackled Batman Begins it comes off as quite the bold statement.. It certainly adds interest, but it is hard to convince myself that it will indeed carry the same weight..

In a short interview with IGN that is exactly the claim Joe Nichol made saying, ” Naturally, the first three pictures were contemporary with Terminators coming back from the future and this picture does indeed take place 10 years from now.. That’s the new beginning.. It’s reminiscent and very much honors the mythology and I’ve listened very diligently to James Cameron and for that matter Jonathan Mostow, and we’re going to respect that mythology, but begin again very much in the spirit of what [ Christopher ] Nolan did with Batman..“

He is doing the right thing getting in touch with Cameron.. I mean, he is obviously listening since he hired Sam Worthington as Marcus based on Cameron’s recommendation, and perhaps his casting of Christian Bale as John Connor was his attempt at copying Nolan.. Whatever the case I know it would be really nice to have a satisfying R - rated sci - fi franchise out there..

When Terminator 4 was announced, the title was obviously way too long.. Who wants to see Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins cluttering up a marquee? So it was no surprise when the title was recently changed.. What did they come up with? Terminator: Return of the Terminator..

Wow.. Obviously the result of a good old brainstorming session at the studio when the writers were out on strike..

First of all, is there really a big need to use the word Terminator twice? Do they already know this is going straight to the video store, so they want to make sure people can find it in the “ T ” section? Return of the Terminator would be dull, but not terrible.. Except that to the 5 billion people who saw the first three, no matter how many other robots pop up, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the Terminator.. And he’s not in it. Absence of the Terminator? That probably wouldn’t fill seats..

Yelchin joins the already cast Christian Bale as John Connor and Sam Worthington as Marcus..

Terminator 4 is currently in pre-production and the film is slated for a 22nd May 2009 release date.. Production is scheduled to start in May in Albuquerque, New Mexico and in Los Angeles.. Although a screenplay was initially penned by John D. Brancato, Michael Ferris, and David C. Wilson, Oscar - winning screenwriter Paul Haggis has also been in talks to join in order to polish the script before shooting begins.. This may be one of the best moves the producers will ever make - Haggis could rework what might have been a awful script into something quite worthy of being remembered in comparison to the other great Terminator films of the past..

Discuss: Do you think Anton Yelchin will be a good Kyle Reese?