Terminator: James Cameron is returning to the franchise for a new film

The director had stepped away from the franchise after Terminator 2: Judgement Day, but is now looking to godfather a new project

James Cameron lives for movie quotes in headlines.

Presumably, that is the explanation behind why he's decided to return to the Terminator franchise to godfather a new adaptation so everyone can use the phrase, "he'll be back", to report on it.

It might also be because Cameron will regain certain rights to the property in 2019 due to a copyright reversion and is determined to end things the right way, with Deadline reporting he's in talks with Deadpool's Tim Miller to direct both a reboot and a conclusion to the film series.

David Ellison's Skydance, who still holds many Terminator rights, is bankrolling what looks to be quite an ambitious project and a full-frontal assault on rectifying the disappointments of Terminator Salvation (2009) and Terminator Genisys (2015); looking to high profile science fiction authors to "find the movie creatively".

The Terminator franchise has had a strange, rocky history in Hollywood ever since Cameron originally sold the rights to his scripted project to producer Gale Ann Hurd for $1, on the stipulation he couldn't be fired as director, resulting in the 1984 original (and classic).

After directing Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Cameron then walked away entirely, with the rights eventually ending up in the hands of famed producer Megan Ellison, who bought them in 2011 at Cannes for $20 million.

There's no word on exactly how the new film would work and exactly how much creative involvement Cameron will have, with Miller directing and considering he's also busy shooting back-to-back sequels for Avatar.