Variety is reporting that Warner Bros. has picked up distribution rights for Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, the first film in a new Terminator trilogy.  The franchise got a jump start this spring when the privately-held Halcyon acquired the film, merchandising and licensing rights to the property from former Carolco execs who produced the initial Terminator films.  The distribution deal with Warners shores up the film's financing and makes production of the movie a foregone conclusion.

Warner Bros. distributed the last Terminator film, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which cost $200 million and earned $427 million worldwide.  The writers of Terminator 3, John Brancato and Michael Ferris, have turned in a script for the fourth Terminator film and a deal with a big-name director is reportedly very close.  The new film will have 'an event-size' budget,' though it will likely be lower than that of Terminator 3, which was saddled with huge rights payments and a cumbersome and costly financial structure.

No word yet on the casting although the producers did say that they hope that the Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has played such an important role in the success of the earlier Terminator films, would at least do a cameo in the new film.

The previous Terminator films produced a wealth of licensed merchandise and the fourth installment should as well.  Dynamite Entertainment already has a Terminator 2 comic book license (see 'Dynamite Lands Terminator 2').  

A Warner Brothers-produced Terminator-based TV series, The Sarah Connor Chronicles (see 'Lead Role Cast for Terminator Pilot'), is slated to air as a mid-season replacement on the Fox network, which should provide something of a security blanket (along with the fact that the new film will be the first in a trilogy) for potential Terminator licensees.