According to Ain’t it Cool News, The Dark Knight himself has landed the role of grown-up John Connor in the upcoming Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.

As I glanced over the film’s imdb page, the seemingly random advert for the Rescue Dawn DVD flashing across the screen felt auspiciously ironic.

I never saw the third installment of the Terminator franchise, though the recently announced trilogy and Fox’s Sarah Connor Chronicles lead me to believe there’s still a growing fan base; bringing Bale on board will only strengthen T4‘s chances of success. With director McG (Charlie’s Angels, We Are Marshall) at the helm, and as long as a decent script surfaces and the aging Governator keeps his small cameo small, this casting news may bring a glint of hope to the future of the Terminator series.

Look for Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins in theaters sometime in June of 2009.

UPDATE: Devin Faraci over at CHUD is now reporting that his source pegged Bale as the Terminator, and other buzz regarding the issue may point to another character entirely. Stayed tuned bookmarked at FilmCrunch for more info as it unfolds.