Dwayne Johnson for Terminator 5?

Dwayne Johnson is reportedly being lined up for a role in 'Terminator 5'.

Film site Ain't It Cool News is quoting a story from WWE Examiner which puts the wrestling legend known as The Rock in the frame with Arnold Schwarzenegger for the forthcoming sequel.

Arnie recently confirmed that he is on board the project, being produced by hotshot studio Annapurna Films, and that he will indeed be reprising his role as the terminator.

[Terminator 5 script will be finished soon, says Arnie]

Johnson will finish the filming of 'Hercules' in time for the planned January start for the new Terminator film, and it's claimed that a version of the script has him very much in mind.

Doubtless Johnson's reputation for being box office catnip is likely to be swaying producers in his direction, having worked wonders for the 'Fast & Furious' and 'G.I. Joe' franchises in recent years.

And as arguably the leading cinema action hero of the moment, he would be able to lend Arnie a little of what has faded since his own blockbusting heyday.

There's even rumours of what the plot may involve.

According to the source at Annapurna that Examiner is citing, a favoured version of the story sets the action in the 1940s and 50s, in which a terminator targets the parents of Sarah Connor before her birth.

[Dumb and Dumber sequel back on]

It's currently being written up by Patrick Lussier and Laeta Kalogridis, the producer and writer who penned 'Shutter Island' for Martin Scorsese and also worked on 'Avatar' with James Cameron.

Meanwhile, Annapurna has made a serious name for itself as a studio in a few short years, funding projects including 'The Master' and 'Zero Dark Thirty'.

It has the rights to the Terminator intellectual property to produce both 'Terminator 5' and a potential 'Terminator 6'.