Schwarzenegger says he will star in next 'Terminator' movie

LONDON, June 14 (UPI) -- Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he has signed on to star in another "Terminator" movie to begin shooting early next year.

"I'm very happy that the studios want me to be in 'Terminator 5' and to star as the Terminator, which we start shooting in January," British entertainment outlet Empire Online quoted Schwarzenegger as saying.

Patrick Lussier and Laeta Kalogridis are writing the fifth installment in the film franchise, the report said.

Schwarzenegger played the iconic cyborg assassin in 1984's "The Terminator," as well as in the 1991 sequel "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and its 2003 follow-up "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines." He was absent from 2009's "Terminator Salvation," however, which was shot while he was taking a break from acting to focus on politics.