If you are already planning on complaining about this I am sure Ain't It Cool News has a profanity laden thread already growing as I type. The headline is accurate in that it appears Warner Bros. is skewing away from tradition and the next installment in the Terminator franchise, currently dubbed Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins will be aiming for a kid friendly PG-13 rating. Perhaps the Alien vs. Predator incident at Fox wasn't enough to prove that doesn't really work.

Production on the film began today and the producers at the Halcyon Co. say they aim to deliver a PG-13 movie to Warner Bros. for release on May 22, 2009.

I am not at all upset about this, primarily because I have never been a huge fan of the Terminator franchise. The first one didn't do much for me. I thought the second one was a bloated and overhyped mess and, if anything, the third one is the best, despite the fact that it is pretty much an awful film.

Halcyon's co-founder and co-CEO Victor Kubicek, a broker-turned-writer-producer, told Variety, "The ratings have changed... The PG-13 has increased in intensity."

Rating changes or not, the fact that the Terminator franchise is one of the highest-grossing R-rated franchises of all time, with the first three films having grossed more than $1.03 billion worldwide should be enough to secure a continuing trend. If this news tells me anything, and if I were to make a speculation about the film, I would say they don't have much confidence in the story they are telling and think they need to get as many people to see the film as possible opening weekend because it won't be a film that will gain much traction.

You could also say it is also so they could make more money on toys and Happy Meal sales, but geeks come in all ages now, just look at Sideshow Collectibles, that shit costs a ton, and I know it isn't little kids buying the majority of it.

In Terminator Salvation, an adult John Connor, played by Christian Bale, leads the war to save humanity from the killing machines. The film is set in post-apocalyptic 2029 and currently speculation is still leaning toward Josh Brolin playing the role of the lead Terminator, but that is still rumor even if Variety sees it fit to print.