Terminator: Genesis is the Future for Jai Courtney

Many an actor has bridged the gap between present and future, each one as a vital cog in the ever-spinning wheel that is the Terminator saga. The latest to do so is Jai Courtney, who has been cast as time-travelling resistance warrior Kyle Reese in Terminator: Genesis.

No sooner had the Aussie downed tools on the set of Divergent, another upcoming sci-fi flick, than the call came to say he’d landed the juicy role, made famous by Michael Biehn in the 1984 original.

Courtney is joining what already looks like a machine of a cast. The long-suffering heroine of the piece, Sarah Connor, will be played by Emilia Clarke of Game of Thrones fame. Sarah’s son, John Connor, is to be portrayed this time around by Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty), while you-know-who will be back yet again to reprise the role that set him on the road to megastardom.

Genesis will be the first in a trilogy that is to stand alone, rather than just rehash and cash in on a famous franchise. Details of the storyline remain as good as non-existent, but the fact that the two characters of Kyle Reese and John Connor will feature together on-screen offers more than a touch of intrigue. In the first film, Reese was sent back from the future to protect Sarah Connor from a seemingly indestructible cyborg, to ensure the birth of her son, John, who would then go on to save mankind from extinction.

Unfortunately, for the romantics out there (that’s a word I never thought I’d see in a Terminator article), the premiere of Genesis won’t be happening this year to coincide with the 30th aniversary of the original movie. July 1 2015 is the date for your diaries, but if it’s even half as good we will certainly have a summer blockbuster to remember.