Editorial: Memo to Rick Sands of MGM!
Starpower very important to a Franchise #4!

Reported By: ABking
Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Seems like the # 4 is going to be hot for film franchise's very soon. If you look at the list of upcoming action film sequels, it reads like a nostalgia list of yesteryear blockbusters. We have Terminator 4, Indiana Jones 4, Die Hard 4, Rambo IV and Beverly Hills Cop 4.

Fans will line up and support any particular film sequel but most importantly the movie going public will embrace a long running franchise into a box-office gold, BUT only if the original star returns and if the film is well directed!

Bruce Willis is now filming Live Free Or Die Hard for summer 2007; Stallone will soon start filming Rambo IV for summer 2008; Harrison Ford has just committed to getting back into shape to play Dr. Jones for summer 2008 and Eddie Murphy is excited to be going back to the role of Axel Foley sometime in the near future.

That leaves Arnold Schwarzenegger and the rumored Terminator 4 project! Last we heard, MGM head Rick Sands was saying that the Terminator franchise is so popular like Bond, Batman or Superman that they can continue it without Arnold. What a bold and ridiculous statement!!!

There are some franchise's that can live without the main star that made it popular returning, but TERMINATOR is "NOT" one of them. My next statement cannot be stressed enough: Schwarzenegger is the reason people pay to see the Terminator films!!!

Maybe a different actor can play James Bond every ten years, but not with the TERMINATOR character. For any muscle bound actor wannabe to even attempt to copy Arnie and play the T-800/T-850 would come off laughable and kill the integrity of the franchise. If Rick Sands, Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna want the Terminator series to become some cheap second rate dvd type franchise, they will continue looking for another actor to replace Arnie.

But if Sands, Kassar and Vajna want a well respected franchise to continue it's legacy (even without Cameron) they NEED ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER involved period! They need to either get Arnie to film a 30 minute extended cameo stretched throughout the entire film, or they need to wait for 2011 when Arnie can officially film a Terminator 4 film for the fans and general public as the main star.

It's the only way T4 will pass 150 million domestic and make 350 million worldwide at the box-office. It would seem demeaning and cheap if T4 was the only part 4 that continued without it's main star.

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ABking