Entertainment Weekly got the chance to sit down with producers Derek Anderson, Victor Kubicek and Moritz Borman to talk about the upcoming "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins." Besides confirming that Christian Bale will play the role of John Connor, the producers spoke about the other characters and whether Arnold Schwarzenegger would return.

A rumor was that Connor was only going to be a supporting role.
ANDERSON: John Connor is an ongoing, very central character throughout the next trilogy. He's leading the fight for the salvation of humanity against the machines. So he's very important.

So he's the star?
KUBICEK: Yes.
ANDERSON: There's gonna be another major costar with kind of equal presence in this installment.

And that costar would play the Terminator character?
ANDERSON: Yes.... Well, it's hard to say. It is a new character introduced in the mythology that's not replacing Arnold [Schwarzenegger]. It's not like he's stepping into Arnold's shoes. It's a completely new character.

Okay, but is it a Terminator ? a killing machine?
ANDERSON: No, not really. That's one of the big twists that if we told you.

Will Schwarzenegger be returning in any form?
KUBICEK: He may make a cameo.
ANDERSON: It still hasn't been determined, but if he does, it would be a very small cameo.According to Anderson and Kubicek, the movie is set to begin shooting in either Australia or Budapest on March 15th, with a budget north of $150 million.

Producer Moritz Borman has revealed that "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins" is set before the famous fighting machine has been built. "We're keeping the script under very tight security," Borman told Empire magazine. "And one of the reasons is that we have a huge twist at the end, which we're being careful not to reveal."

He continued: "I can tell you this much ? this is the story everybody has been waiting for. Namely, we're in the future. The part of it where Arnold's character has not yet been built but is on the drawing board. And in the next two episodes we'll get to the point where time-travel is more in the foreground. It's the war against the machines, the start of Skynet taking over the world."

But Borman hinted that Californian governor Schwarzenegger could feature in two subsequent movies. "It's convenient that he hasn't been built at this point of the story, as Arnold has more important things to do right now, but that doesn't mean he might not re-appear later in the trilogy," he said. "He knows the material and is very supportive of what we're doing. There might even be hints of his character in this one."

And on other casting whispers he said; "I've heard everything from Sylvester Stallone to Vin Diesel, and other ones. I can tell you that Vin Diesel is not somebody we're currently talking to."

McG is directing the new film with shooting set to begin on April 15th in Budapest.

Warner Bros has set McG's "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins" on May 22nd, 2009, the start of Memorial Day weekend. That puts two tentpoles on the same date, even though the release calendar for summer 2009 is still relatively open.

Twentieth Century Fox had already staked out May 22nd for the bow of the Ben Stiller sequel "Night at the Museum II: Escape From the Smithsonian." First film grossed $250.9 million domestically.

Warner will distribute the pic in North America through a deal with Halcyon Co., which owns all franchise rights to the "Terminator" series.

The last film in the franchise, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," bowed in 2003 and grossed $150.4 million domestically.

"T4" begins lensing in New Mexico for two months on May 5th. The state has become a favorite locale for producers because of its production tax incentives.

Storyline is being kept under tight wraps, but plot is part of a planned three-picture arc that begins after Skynet has destroyed much of humanity in a nuclear holocaust. A group of survivors led by John Connor (Christian Bale) struggles to stop the machines. Sam Worthington (Avatar) is in talks to star as well.

Christian Bale is to play rebel leader John Connor in three sequels to the Terminator franchise, its producers have revealed. He has already started shooting the first of those films, "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins."

"He's really an actor's actor, so we're very proud," said Victor Kubicek of film company Halcyon. "Christian was our first choice and he's a big fan of The Terminator, so we're very lucky. But with Batman he's already done the whole franchise thing, so we weren't sure he'd respond."

"Luckily," said Kubicek's business partner Derek Anderson, "he read the script and he loved it, so he's signed on for all three."

"Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins," starring Sam Worthington and Christian Bale, began principal photography on May 5th, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (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 its 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.

The film also stars Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, Charlotte Gainsbourg as Kate Connor, Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams, Common as Barnes, and Jadagrace as Star.

"Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins" marks the latest installment of the multi-billion dollar Terminator franchise and will be the first film in a new Terminator trilogy. The film is scheduled for a North American theatrical release May 22nd, 2009.

cG, the director of the upcoming "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins," has began blogging on the official site for the movie and has given fans some concept art of post-judgment day Los Angeles. Here is what McG had to say:

"We've officially started principal photography on 'Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.' Like you guys, I've been a long-time fan of the series and I understand your passion for the Terminator movies -- and it's my full intention to deliver a film that lives up to the previous three installments. I've spent time with James Cameron, spoken to Arnold Schwarzenegger, gone over the story with Jonah Nolan, and enlisted Stan Winston.

Everything we're shooting is designed to be tactile and real, you'll be seeing a whole set of inspired designs you've never seen before, and best of all you'll finally get to see some of the post-judgment day future that was only hinted at in the previous movies.

John Connor will be pushed to the brink. And for me, Christian Bale embodies Connor's strength and tenacity perfectly. And after visiting Sam Worthington on the set of 'Avatar,' I know he's perfect for his role.

As you know, Anton Yelchin is playing Kyle Reese, and his prep has been unbelievable. The guy's been watching all three Terminators incessantly and he's definitely going to capture the essence of the character Michael Biehn created in Cameron's first film.

We started principal photography with a sequence at Griffith Observatory. I've already seen a cut of it - Anton and Sam are excellent. I'll have more on that soon, and can't wait to share some of what we're doing with you all. Stay tuned for more."

A while back, it was reported that a teaser trailer for the upcoming "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins" will be shown in front of "The Dark Knight" on July 18th. And now, AICN received a description of the trailer from a person who was lucky enough to participate in a focus group. Here is what the scooper had to say:

"It opens with footage of people out in every day life. Christian Bale voiceovers something like: "I always knew it would happen"... Than a pause... "They told me I could stop it."

The same people begin looking to the sky... "That I could save us." Looks of horror come across their faces as he says, "They were wrong."

Music rises as we cut to black for a second. The Terminator theme starts, with the duh duh, duh, duh, duh. NEXT SUMMER appears on the screen...

We get a quick shot looking out over a sunny desert, and then a shot of Bale, in badass commando uniform and very recognizably the same guy who plays Batman, being lowered into a huge bunker of weapons.

THE FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE rolls across, and we get mixed clips from inside one of the survivor bunkers as seen in Terminator 1 - but they look more concentration campish; very crowded, shots of Bale walking with a large crowd. And then the word... BEGINS.

The music quickly rises as we get a shot of a huge truck racing down a high way, a shot or two of a helicopter flying mixed with more close ups of the actors when Bale whispers, "They're coming."

It all goes quiet. Massive drums blare the beginning of the theme (again) but this time much louder, more pumped up, as we get a metallic silver T that morphs into a 4.

We then get the big money shot of the trailer. Its Bale on a motorcycle with some girl on the back. They speed through a door of what looks like a warehouse toward us. As soon as they pass the screen, a huge terminator on wheels, a lot like the one they battle in the first one, smashes through the wall, chasing them. It looks awesome.