In hopes of broadening their movie’s audience, the producers of Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins have announced they’re aiming for a PG-13 stamp.  This move would be a departure from the first three installments which were all rated R.

Devotees of the series might find this bit of news a little upsetting.  Would a dialed-down film also mean a watered-down Terminator?  Meanwhile, younger fans of the FOX series are probably thrilled by this announcement.  Now they’ll get to follow along on the big screen.

But will a new rating really have any affect on the movie’s quality overall?  Before you answer that question, think back to last year’s Die Hard sequel.  Live Free or Die Hard was the only movie of its series to earn anything less than an R rating.  Aside from a nemesis of Alan Rickman’s caliber, did you feel like anything else was missing?

Salvation, which stars Christian Bale and newly announced Common, began production this week.  It’s scheduled to premiere May 22, 2009.