Earlier this month at a Los Angeles bankruptcy hearing Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek’s Halcyon Holding Group, the producers behind Terminator Salvation, were granted a breather to continue operating and, in turn, to continue with the opportunity to develop Terminator 5.

On the verge of closing down at the beginning of September 2009, the ruling granted them access to much needed cash in the form of some $2.1M in tax rebates and gave them the right to seek additional cash collateral to finance continued operations.

The LA Times are now reporting that Halcyon have engaged financial advisory firm FTI Capital Advisors to handle their financial strategy going forward.

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Although Terminator Salvation was initially intended to be the first part of a new Terminator trilogy, its performance at the domestic US box office led many to question whether a fifth Terminator film would happen.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, the film gunned it on the international circuit, almost doubling Star Trek’s foreign take to hit a reasonable box office haul of $341M worldwide. That led to speculation that Terminator 5 might be back on the agenda – and it seems it is, with director McG now confirming Terminator 5 is being worked on as we speak.

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Terminator 5 may be set in London in the year 2011 after John Connor travels back in time, an “industry source” apparently told Bleeding Cool.

This rumor could have substance, given that back in May director McG told FilmJournal that he suspected Terminator 5 would take place in a pre-judgment day 2011.

From FilmJournal:

“I strongly suspect the next movie is going to take place in a [pre-Judgment Day] 2011,” McG reveals. “John Connor is going to travel back in time and he’s going to have to galvanize the militaries of the world for an impending Skynet invasion. They’ve figured out time travel to the degree where they can send more than one naked entity. So you’re going to have hunter killers and transports and harvesters and everything arriving in our time and Connor fighting back with conventional military warfare, which I think is going to be fucking awesome. I also think he’s going to meet a scientist that’s going to look a lot like present-day Robert Patrick [who famously played the T-1000 in Terminator 2], talking about stem-cell research and how we can all live as idealized, younger versions of ourselves.”

Whether or not the London setting is accurate or not, the real question is not when or where Terminator 5 might occur, but rather if it will.

Terminator Salvation’s budget is estimated to be a whopping $200M, whilst its box office revenue hasn’t come close to that figure.  It has dragged in a mere $125M worldwide and witnessed a significant decline week to week in viewer numbers. On Friday it pulled in an estimated $2.5M, some 50% less than the previous Friday, indicating the likelihood of it surpassing its budget in its theatrical run is shrinking.

If Terminator 5 was dependent on the success of Terminator Salvation, it might be fair to say Terminator 5 is unlikely.

It’s a strange scenario really. If you follow public opinion on Twitter, half the people who see Salvation hate it, the other half absolutely love it, and a few are in between. Clearly the monumental gap between these mixed reviews has impacted the box office, yet despite this the IMDB has Terminator Salvation sitting at number one on its popularity based ‘Moviemeter’ – yes, even above Paramount’s Star Trek.

Unfortunately dollars and not popularity alone will bring the green-light to Terminator 5, whether it is planned to take place in London or not.