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Arnold may not be back, but that doesn't mean a franchise can't move forward on its own.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) stand to see some nice revenue generation for their studio segments in 2009 via a new sequel in the Terminator franchise, to be called Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. Sony will take international distribution chores, while Time Warner will handle the domestic side of things.
As a fan of the Terminator series, I can tell you that it will be great to see another entry. And it will also be exciting to see if the brand can be carried by someone else other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. In fact, Christian Bale is set to play John Connor, the future rebel who battles Skynet and its evil cyborg army.
Bale, as most of you probably know, is the star of Time Warner's new Batman franchise. He was quite good in Batman Begins back in 2005 -- that picture had a worldwide take of about $372 million, according to Boxofficemojo.com -- and he is set to wow audiences again in this summer's The Dark Knight, where Bale's Batman will be doing battle with the Joker, portrayed by the late Heath Ledger.
I think it will be tough at first for audiences to accept a Terminator sans Schwarzenegger, but if The Dark Knight hits it big this summer -- and keep in mind, the film does have some stiff competition from projects like the new Indiana Jones movie from Viacom (NYSE: VIA) and the latest iteration of the Hulk mythos from Marvel (NYSE: MVL) -- then Bale's star equity will rise and set the stage for a big debut weekend. If Bale was able to reintroduce moviegoers to Batman, then he might be up for this task.
Another Terminator -- sounds like money in the bank to me.
Disclosure: I own shares in Marvel.
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