It seems like only moments since Charlotte Gainsbourg was cast in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, but she's already had to bow out due to a scheduling conflict with a French comedy in which she is due to star. But fear not! Like a carroty-haired superheroine, Bryce Dallas Howard is already in negotiations to leap in and save the day, replacing Gainsbourg as Kate Connor, wife of John and fighter against the machines.
Gainsbourg's decision is apparently that the still-rumoured actors' strike may halt production mid-way, in which case her French commitment might be in jeopardy. But it does leave us in the odd situation where the actor playing John Connor is five years older than the one in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, but the actress now playing his wife is two years younger than she was there (Claire Danes). A lot of women would probably put up with nuclear apocalypse if they could age backwards like that - and, as a bonus, have their other half, Nick Stahl, turn into Christian Bale.
Still, such chronological niceties are perhaps best left unexamined, given that this is a series that depends on a man sending his own father back through time that he might be conceived, and then trying to change the future so said trip won't be necessary.
Filming's already started in New Mexico, with McG directing.