James Cameron returning to Terminator franchise in 'godfather' role

James Cameron is reportedly returning to the Terminator franchise after stepping back from the Hollywood blockbuster that catapulted both himself and Arnold Schwarzenegger into the spotlight.

Cameron hasn't been directly involved in the time-travelling, post-apocalyptic universe he brought to life since directing Terminator 2 in the early '90s.

Since then, there's been another three Terminator films and even a TV spin-off. None of these have been considered a massive success, though.

But the franchise's fortunes could be about to change, with Deadline reporting that Cameron is in early talks with Deadpool director Tim Miller to direct a possible sixth film.

If it goes ahead, this means Cameron will be "godfathering" the project instead of sitting in the director's chair.

It's unclear at this stage whether the talks relate to just a sixth film to conclude the franchise, an entire reboot, or both.

Whatever happens, there's no denying the curious timing. After all, Cameron regains certain rights to The Terminator in 2019.

Usually, rights-holders simply have to ensure their claim to a film remains 'alive' in order to ensure the rights don't return to the original owners (hence why there are so many Spider Man films).

But it appears Cameron managed to strike a specific deal when he stepped away from the Terminator franchise that saw the rights revert to him after a set period of time.

If this new project goes ahead and is a commercial success - think of Titanic or Avatar - then Cameron is about to get a whole lot richer. And that's not even considering potential game spin-offs and other merchandise.

But devoting time and energy to a new sci-fi project would be a momentous task, given Cameron is currently working on shooting not one but four Avatar sequels, tentatively scheduled for release through till 2023.

One only needs to look at George Lucas's Star Wars prequels to see how revisiting an old favourite could all go wrong.