T3 gets title and release date

The Terminator will be back ... with a little help from Warner Bros. Variety reports that Warner Bros. has won the bidding war for domestic distribution rights to the long-delayed third Terminator film.

"Terminator 3: The Rise Of The Machines" has been budgeted at $170 million, with a whopping $30 million going to Arnold Schwarzenegger, who will reprise his cyborg lead character, under the direction of "U-571's" Jonathan Mostow.

The script reportedly sees Schwarzenegger's robot doing battle with a female model. Original director James Cameron has opted not to participate in the second sequel.

While Fox originally held rights to the "Terminator" franchise, the film's twisted production history -- which saw rights to the series subject to a bankruptcy auction and Intermedia ultimately financing "T3" -- resulted in the auction.

Variety said four other studios were in competition for the "T3" rights, and all were willing to fork out $50 million against 50% of the film's gross receipts. Warner won by boasting that its success with "Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone" (or "Sorcerer's Stone", as it's known in the U.S.) demonstrated the combined promotional might of the AOL Time Warner empire, the report said.

Universal, Disney's Dimension label, DreamWorks, and Paramount were all in the running for "T3," Variety said.

Warner Bros.' connection to big-screen action and franchise pictures has lately swelled: Schwarzenegger's "Collateral Damage" is now to open Feb. 8, after the terrorist-themed film was moved from its original fall opening after Sept. 11.

The company also now plans to open "Matrix 2" on Memorial Day 2003, with "T3" on the July 4 weekend and "Matrix 3" in November, Variety said.

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