I just got out of Fast Five, so writing up this news somewhat saddens me. I feel like I just watched the Special Olympics of action films, and now I learn that director Justin Lin and Arnold Schwarzenegger are being shopped around to studios as a package deal for more Terminator films. If Skynet really did become self aware last week, perhaps it can stop this deal from going through before it’s too late.

This is great news for Schwarzenegger fans who want a better return to the big screen for him than his five seconds in The Expendables, but bad news for anyone that was hoping someone promising could come in and rescue the series from the deep, dark pit McG left it in two years ago. Lin has been rumored to be in running for quite a while now, and with Fast Five having impressive overseas debuts and being the film most likely to take the number one spot domestically this weekend, his name is probably not going to disappear from the deal unless the sequel unexpectedly tanks.

He could, of course, surprise everyone and make a solid film. But based on the last three Fast And Furious sequels he made, I’m not betting on it.

This deal also has a rather large stipulation: the rights revert back to James Cameron – who directed the first two films – in 2018, at which time they will have to be purchased from him again. That’s a little over six years, which gives the buyer enough time to make at least two films if they already have a game plan going into the deal.

Expect more concrete news about Terminator 5 in the very near future.