Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to distribute the fourth ‘Terminator’ movie in North America, and is seeking to reinvent the cyborg saga with the new pic.

The studio plans to come up with a storyline to be told in a trilogy, reports Variety.

‘Salvation’ begins production in early 2008, with WB planning to distribute it in the summer of 2009.

The deal dashes MGM’s hopes of getting distribution rights to the film.

MGM was sued by Halcyon back in July in Los Angeles Superior Court. Halycon claimed that the studio was interfering with its distribution plans on the fourth “Terminator” film on the basis of an MGM claim that it had acquired an exclusive 30-day negotiating window.

The fourth pic got a breather when film, merchandising and licensing rights were acquired by Halcyon and its co-CEOs Victor Kubicek and Derek Anderson along with “Terminator 3″ exec producer Moritz Borman to acquire from ex-Carolco partners Andy Vajna and Mario Kassar.

Anderson and Borman are producing the new film, with Peter D. Graves as exec producer.

“Terminator 3″ scribes John Brancato and Michael Ferris have penned the screenplay, and the hunt is now on for a director.

Anderson said that “Terminator Salvation” was deliberately not given a number after its title, because t the fourth film heads into an entirely different setting.

“This is set in the future, in a full-scale war between Skynet and humankind,” he said.

Borman said: “The third film was really the conclusion of what happened in the ‘now.’ You will find the most-loved characters, but the intention here is to present a fresh new world and have this be the first of a trilogy.”

Sony Pictures Entertainment, which distributed “T3″ in most overseas territories, is expected to get first dibs at doing so once again. (ANI)