The man behind the cape and cowl is in talks to become the salvation of the “Terminator” movie franchise. Christian Bale is in negotiations to play the part of a thirty something John Connor, the leader of the human army that fights the machines in the science fiction movie saga. The character was first mentioned in the original “Terminator” but he hadn’t been born yet. The Terminators are sent back from the future where Connor has almost won the fight against Skynet to try and kill his pregnant mother and then later Connor when he was a child. Edward Furlong played the teenage John in “T2” and then Nick Stahl took over the role in “Terminator 3”.

“Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins” will be directed by McG (“Charlie’s Angels”, “We Are Marshall”). Bale is the first actor to be linked to the movie which is scheduled to start filming in the spring of next year. The movie is scheduled for release in summer of 2009.

Bale is finishing up work on his second Batman movie titled “The Dark Knight”. Heath Ledger steps into the clown shoes of Jack Nicholson as The Joker in this new adventure with Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal rounding out the cast.

Academy Award winning actor Morgan Freeman will play South African President Nelson Mandela in a new movie set during the country’s 1995 Rugby World Cup matches. The movie will be based on a soon to be published book by John Carlin titled “The Human Factor: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed the World”.

Freeman will produce with his Revelations Entertainment partner Lori McCreary and Mace Neufeld (“The Hunt For Red October”). The “Shawshank Redemption” and “Batman Begins” star is a longtime friend of the Nobel Prize winning Apartheid crusader and is eager to start production on a film honoring Mandela’s achievements. “I have known Nelson Mandela personally for quite some time, and am continually in awe of his enormous presence in the world,” Freeman said. “The opportunity to portray him in this film is a great honor.”

Work continues to take place on “The Dark Knight”, the follow-up to 2005’s “Batman Begins”. Director Christopher Nolan will be behind the camera once again, this time working from a screenplay written by himself and his brother Jonathan. Christian Bale is reprising his role as billionaire Bruce Wayne and costumed crime-fighter Batman, the vigilante protector of Gotham City. Also returning are Michael Caine as Wayne’s butler and confidant, Alfred; Gary Oldman as crusading cop James Gordon and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, the developer of Batman’s arsenal of weapons and vehicles.

Three new cast members are joining the movie. Heath Ledger, the hunky star of “A Knight’s Tale”, has already been cast to play Batman’s arch-nemesis, The Joker. Close to signing a contract is Aaron Eckhart (”Thank You for Smoking”) in the role of Two-Face, the scarred villain that bases all of his decisions on the flip of a coin. Finally, Maggie Gyllenhaal (”World Trade Center”) is rumored to also be close to joining the cast to take over the character of Rachel Dawes, the love interest for Bruce Wayne. Katie Holmes played the character in the earlier film.

Filming on “The Dark Knight” commences next month in Chicago and you will be able to see the movie in theaters in the summer of 2008.