Terminator: Salvation director Joseph McGinty, better known as McG (Mick-Jee) has often said Christian Bale, whom he calls “the most credible action star in the world right now,” has always been his first choice to play John Conner in the saga’s fourth installment.

Apparently McG offered Bale the part while he was reprising his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight, but he initially turned it down.  The reason?  Bad script.  Luckily for us, however, he indicated that he was still open to playing the part if the script could be improved to the point that it would make a compelling story on stage without special effects or other common Hollywood crutches. Thank you, Mr. Bale. Thank you for helping us avoid another Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

So, what does McG do?  Why he gets Jonathan Nolan, brother of visionary director Christopher Nolan, and co-writer of The Dark Knight to rewrite the script.  With Nolan on board, Bale agreed to play Conner, with the option to do two more Terminator movies hinging on the success of this one.

There has been some controversy over the MPAA rating of the film.  All three of its predecessors have been rated R, but the producers, jumping on a recent trend to sell more tickets and merchandise, are lobbying McG to cut some scenes, including a supposed topless scene near the end, to give it a PG-13 rating.

It’s also been reported that Cal-ee-fone-ee-ya governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger may make an appearance in the film–or at least a computer’s rendering of his robot-like mug.  There have been talks about having a computer-animated recreation of the governor’s face grafted onto the body of Austrian bodybuilder Roland Kickinger.  Yeah, pretty strange.  Linda Hamilton may also lend her talents in a voice-over tying the end of Terminator 2: Judgement Day to the beginning of this film.  And pretend #3 never happened?  I like it.

Look for Terminator Salvation in theatres Memorial Day weekend on May 21st.  In the meantime, check out the trailer below.