The Word: Troubling news about the new ‘Terminator’ movie

It was probably foolish to have any optimism at all about the new “Terminator” film due next summer — especially once its title, “Terminator Genisys” was revealed — but any hope for a decent entry into the franchise is gone now. In a first look at the film in Entertainment Weekly, some extremely troubling plot details are revealed: In this edition, young Sarah Connor (now played by “Games of Thrones” star Emilia Clarke) “was orphaned by a Terminator at the age of 9. Since then, she’s been raised by … [Arnold] Schwarzenegger’s Terminator — an older T-800 she calls ‘Pops’ — who is programmed to guard rather than kill.”

So does this mean that they’re undoing the events of the first two films? Which happen to be the only good ones in the franchise? The film’s production wrapped in August, but maybe it’s not too late to send a screenwriter back in time and fix this. But the news does at least feed into my “Terminator” behind-the-scenes theory: After defying the odds and making an awesome low-budget sci-fi movie followed by a groundbreaking, genre-defining sequel, the producers realized they could never top themselves, so the secretly set out to make each film successively worse. I didn’t say it was a good plan. Is it too late to scrap this movie and just bring back “the Sarah Connor Chronicles”?

Aniston’s ring-cleaning sparks media frenzy
Several corners of the Celebrity Industrial Complex quaked with fear this week when Jennifer Aniston was spotted without the flashy engagement ring given to her by fiancé Justin Theroux . Was everything OK between the pair? Is the wedding off? Which “Friends” co-star will she turn to first for comfort? But don’t worry, false alarm everyone. “Everyone should calm down,” Aniston’s rep says. “The ring was just being cleaned and is safely back on her hand.” Oh good. By the way, can we start a trend of starting every official statement with “Everyone should calm down”? Or is that usually implied?

Is Robert Wagner’s old boat cursed? Probably.
The former flight attendant who purchased Robert Wagner’s yacht the Splendour — or as I like to call it, the Natalie Wood Death Boat — is looking to unload the vessel because, he claims, it’s haunted by the ghost of the “West Side Story” star. “I’ve been hurt twice on the boat mysteriously. Weird falls. It’s just like my feet came out from under me and I fell,” Ron Nelson says. And one night during a trek to Hawaii, “something sat down on the bed and then left.” He even had the boat blessed once he reached Hawaii to “clear the spirit,” but apparently to no avail. Recent damage from a hurricane was the last straw. So, any takers?

Damon and Affleck, together again
Ben Affleck finally returned Matt Damon’s phone calls, apparently, as the “Good Will Hunting” scribes are teaming up to executive produce a new single-camera sitcom from “30 Rock” writer Colleen McGuinness for Fox. And while the show doesn’t have a title yet, it does have a ridiculously awesome-sounding premise: A young frozen yogurt shop employee suddenly discovers she has telekinetic powers. Sign me up.

Jenner kids’ YA foray not so hot right now
They can’t all be bestsellers, apparently. Since debuting in June, the sci-fi YA novel “written” by Kendall and Kylie Jenner , “Rebels: City of Indra ,” has sold just 13,000 copies, which is totally not cute. So it’s safe to assume the teens’ long-term goals of launching a film franchise based on the book aren’t going to pan out either. “We were saying, if we were to do a movie, like, what would we want to do?” one of them explained during an interview with “Good Morning America” promoting the book’s launch. “Like, if we were to be in it, like what movie would we want to be in?” That’s a pretty big “if,” young lady.

DAILY VIDEO: the FOMO horror movie
To get you into the Halloween spirit, check out College Humor’s hilarious and carefully crafted ” FOMO Horror Movie Trailer,” tackling that worst of all conditions, fear of missing out ( FOMO ) syndrome. The clip features “Pitch Perfect” and “True Blood” star Anna Camp as a young woman driven crazy by everyone else having a great time, and the horror movie elements are spot on. Don’t miss out on it yourself!