I have to admit, the fourth installment in the Terminator series is shaping up to be a return to its original form.

As everyone knows, Christian Bale was miraculously snagged to play John Connor. Now comes word from THR that the filmmakers are in talks with up-and-coming actor, Anton Yelchin to play Kyle Reese and also that they may have Paul Haggis coming aboard to help with the script. I assume that Yelchin signing on is the more likely of the two things, but let’s hope for both! Hell, even visual effects master Stan Winston is coming back to do things right, how tasty is that?

Yelchin is just coming off of Charlie Bartlett and has the new Star Trek movie on the way — playing Chekov — before this would likely come into play. His character, Kyle Reese, is the character that Michael Biehn played in the original Terminator — John Connor’s father. So, we have a 30-year-old John Connor and his father while he’s in his teens! Should be interesting.

The film will also star Sam Worthington (Hart’s War, The Great Raid) as an early model of the Terminator cyborg (portrayed in the first film trilogy by Arnold Schwarzenegger) that befriends Reese.

Earlier this month, Warner Bros. ditched the film’s original lengthy title, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, and reports now are that the new title is Terminator: The Return of the Terminator. Filming is set to begin this May.

The upcoming Terminator film, which takes place in the year 2019, is the first installment of a planned movie trilogy that begins after Skynet has destroyed much of humanity in a nuclear holocaust and the machines have taken over. In an effort to save humankind, John Connor leads a group of survivors in a struggle to stop the machines.

Terminator 4, directed by Charlie’s Angels helmer McG, is looking at a May 22, 2009 release date.