After joining one iconic action franchise, Jai Courtney is ready for another, as the star of “A Good Day to Die Hard” is in early talks to play Kyle Reese in Paramount and Skydance Productions’ franchise reboot “Terminator: Genesis,” an individual familiar with the project has told TheWrap.
Paramount, predictably, had no comment.
Alan Taylor (“Thor: The Dark World”) is directing the tentpole movie, which will star Jason Clarke and Emilia Clarke as John and Sarah Connor. Arnold Schwarzenegger will also reprise his star-making role.
Kyle Reese was played by Michael Biehn in James Cameron‘s original 1984 classic. The character is sent back in time to protect Sarah Connor from an unstoppable killing machine, though he won’t necessarily serve the same function in the reboot, as plot details remain under wraps.
Also read: ‘Terminator’ TV Series In Development With ‘X-Men’ Writers Executive Producing
Boyd Holbrook (“The Host”) was among the finalists to play Kyle Reese.
David Ellison‘s Skydance had intended to co-finance the film with his sister Megan Ellison‘s Annapurna Pictures banner, though the latter company pulled out of the project, which is designed as the first film in a new trilogy. Skydance will now finance 2/3 of the budget, with distributor Paramount paying for the rest.
Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier penned the script for “Terminator: Genesis,” which will be produced by David Ellison and executive produced by Dana Goldberg and Paul Schwake.
Also read: Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures Terminates Financial Involvement in ‘Terminator: Genesis’
Paramount will release “Terminator: Genesis” on July 1, 2015.
Courtney is no stranger to Paramount, having played a creepy sniper in the studio’s action thriller “Jack Reacher.” Courtney, who played Bruce Willis’ hot-headed son in the most recent “Die Hard” movie, will next be seen in “Divergent” and Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken.” He’s repped by UTA, Silver Linings Entertainment and Mark Morrissey and Associates.
The news was first reported by Variety.