In talks to be in Terminator 4!

Bryce Dallas Howard is in discussions to replace Charlotte Gainsbourg in McG’s Terminator sequel, reports claim.

Gainsbourg, who starred alongside Heath Ledger in I’m Not There, had been set to play the wife of John Connor (Christian Bale), leader of the human resistance in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins but has been forced to withdraw from the project due to a scheduling conflict.

And according to the Hollywood Reporter, The Village star Howard is in negotiations to take the role.

The daughter of actor and director Ron Howard, she recently completed filming opposite Chris Evans and Ellen Burstyn in Jodie Markell’s The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond.

Gainsbourg’s departure has been provoked by the potential for an actor’s strike as the Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG) has failed to reach an agreement with Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) regarding remuneration over redistribution of their work on DVD and other media.

Were a strike to happen, shooting would be postponed temporarily, raising the possibility of clash for Gainsbourg between Terminator Salvation and a French comedy to which she is attached.

McG, helmer of both Charlie’s Angels features, is to follow in the footsteps of James Cameron and Jonathan Mostow in directing Terminator Salvation: due for release on May 22nd 2009.

While the plot of the fourth film has been largely kept under wraps, it is believed it could be the start of a three-picture exploration of the human battle for survival after much of the Earth has been obliterated by Skynet – the computer that controlled the machines – in a nuclear holocaust.