Skynet, Judgment Day, the history of things to come.

All I ever wanted from a Terminator movie was the chance to see more than 30 seconds of the war between the humans and the machines. Now, thanks to Warner Bros. it looks like I finally get my wish. Not only are we getting a fourth Terminator film, we're getting a new trilogy.

Warner Bros. Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment and The Halcyon Company began principle photography on Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, May 5th in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The film is scheduled for release on this exact date next year. McG will direct and Christian Bale will star as a grown up John Connor. Newly announced casting includes Australian born Sam Worthington, musician Common (rumored to be playing John Stewart in Justice League: Mortal) as Barnes and Moon Bloodgood (rumored to be playing Maya in the new Street Fighter movie) as Blaire Williams. Anton Yelchin who plays Chekov in Star Trek will be playing the role of John's father, Kyle Reese.

According to the press release:

In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocolyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and it's army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares it's final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.

I've known Christian Bale was going to be playing John for a while now but I'm surprised to hear that he has actually signed on for three films considering his current involvement with the Batman franchise. With that said, I'm shivering with anticipation of this one. It seems they are distancing themselves in a way from the previous three films, notice there's no talk of Arnold Schwarzenegger making an appearance. All I want to see is all out war with the machines and Terminator skeletons walking around blowing things up.

There is one possible downside. According to Variety, they are looking to make it PG-13. The Terminator trilogy is one of the highest-grossing R rated franchises ever but Halcyon producers want to widen the fan base and don't think the lowered rating with compromise the film. "The ratings have changed," said Halcyon co-founder and co-CEO Victor Kubicek, "The PG-13 has increased in intensity." I don't know if they are exactly aiming at family-friendly but if there's one thing the Terminator movies are not, it's family-friendly. Unless you count the warm and fuzzy moments between John and the T-800. Those were pretty cute.

Of course no movie franchise is complete without a video game. A new Terminator game is set to be released along with the movie next year. With the technology we've got now I'm thinking it's going to be pretty bad-ass.

Now that he's played Jack Kelly, Laurie, Batman, Alfred Borden and John Connor if we could just get Christian Bale in The Hobbit somehow, my fantasies will be complete.

Nerdy News

Welcome to Rapture. Or should I say Hollywood?

Take-Two Interactive is coming together with Universal Studios to develop the highly-successful and awesomely creepy video game "BioShock" into a feature film. Pirates of the Caribbean's Gore Verbinksi will be directing and producing. John Logan of Gladiator and Sweeney Todd fame is in talks to write the script. No other details have been given at this time.

Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K Games, said, "BioShock fans appreciate the depth and complexity of the game, and our partnership with Gore Verbinski will introduce the world of Rapture to an even wider audience. In addition to his impressive body of work, Gore is an avid video gamer and true fan of BioShock. That was extremely important to us in deciding to move forward with this project."

A sequel to the game, BioShock 2, is set to be release in late 2009.

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In other video game news, there's a new "LEGO Batman" trailer online. I know I say this a lot but, it's ridiculously adorable. Especially the little strut they gave Catwoman. But, no Poison Ivy?

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How would you like to attend an Unexpected Party? Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro are inviting you to a live internet chat about The Hobbit. This is similar to what Jackson did before production started on The Lord of the Rings.

"So this is how it will work: we ask all fans with an interest in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings to send one question to this website. As us anything! Guillermo and I will select and answer the 20 most common questions, so that we can both attempt to address the key issues as best we can," Jackson said in a statement.

The answers will be given during a one hour live web chat hosted by Weta. The chats will start May 1st and continue through May 10th. The date and time of the live chat depends on what part of the world you live in so check the site for details. Besides the chosen 20 questions, Jackson and Del Toro are willing to take additional questions live and chat about the project. They are suggesting it's a good idea to register in advance.

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There is some sad news to report. Illustrator, and one of the founders of Mad Magazine, Will Elder passed away yesterday morning at the age of 86. Journalista! was the first to give word and soon The New York Observer and others followed.

After leaving Mad, he and Harvey Kurtzman worked on an Archie Comics parody "Goodman Beaver Goes Playboy!" Though it resulted in a lawsuit by Archie Comics it garnered the attention of the original playboy, Hugh Hefner. The result was Elder's other famous work with Kurtzman, "Little Annie Fanny," which was published in playboy from 1962 - 1988 and in 2001 was published in trade paperbacks by Dark Horse Comics.

May the hair on his toes never fall off!

After hearing this rumored for months, it's finally official. New Line Cinema announced yesterday Guillermo Del Toro will be directing "The Hobbit." Not only that, he'll be moving to New Zealand for a few years to give it his full attention. The film will be split in two with executive producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh also on the team. You may remember Jackson had sued New Line over "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy profits. "The Hobbit" could not move forward until that was settled, which it was this past December. 

"Contributing to the 'Lord of the Rings' legacy is an absolute dream come true," said Del Toro in a statement. Jackson and Walsh also released a statement saying, "We have long admired Guillermo's work and cannot think of a more inspired filmmaker to take the journey back to Middle-Earth." 

You can find out all you need to know and keep up to date on what's going on with "The Hobbit" at the films official blog, TheHobbitBlog.com. As of right now, filming is set to begin next year with the movies being release in 2010 and 2011. Del Toro is currently out promoting his latest film "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" in theaters July 11th.