Terminator is back and while there's no sign of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the fourth installment promises to be bigger than ever.

Batman Begins and Dark Knight star Christian Bale steps in as rebel leader John Connor, a decommissioned terminator whose last memory is of being on death row.

The hotly anticipated Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins is set in a post-apocalyptic 2018 and picks up the story of Connor, who is now in his early thirties.

Leading man: Christian Bale Stars as iconic character John Connor in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins

The film also stars Sam Worthington, Bryce Dallas Howard and Helen Bonham Carter, with Josh Brolin rumored to appear as the Terminator.

Bale says he only agreed to the role because he was confident the film will reinvent the franchise.

He revealed: 'What I saw with Terminator was what I saw with Batman Begins.'

Terminator 4: One of the most anticipated films of the year

'While Batman Begins was clearly an origin story and we were in many ways ignoring any of the other films that had come before it, this won’t be the case with Terminator.

'We’re staying true to the mythology, certainly to one and two more than three, but it gave us the opportunity and the chance to reinvent and revitalize that. 

Action-packed: Expect high drama from the up and coming Terminator film

'There is no point in making it otherwise. So that is my aim, and that is why I finally decided yes, I want to try this.

The last Terminator movie - Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines - starring California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, was released in 2003.

Production began in May this year in New Mexico in the US and will be the biggest film ever shot in the state.

Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins will be released in June next year.

Into the future: The story takes place in 2018, after the destruction of human civilisation