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Sep 20, 2017 By Christopher Roberts Terminator: Dark Fate

Terminator creator James Cameron has announced that Linda Hamilton will be returning to the role of Sarah Connor in an upcoming Terminator film, the sixth in the series, joining the previously announced Arnold Schwarzenegger. As Deadline reports, Cameron, who is producing the new movie, revealed the news at a private screening of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which was recently re-released in 3D.

“As meaningful as she was to gender and action stars everywhere back then, it’s going to make a huge statement to have that seasoned warrior that she’s become return,” said Cameron. “There are 50-year-old, 60-year-old guys out there killing bad guys, but there isn’t an example of that for women.”

The Terminator series has a messy continuity of disappointing sequels, failed reboots, a canceled TV show, and characters recast several times over. The first two films, 1984’s The Terminator and 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, were both classics and were both co-written and directed by Cameron. But Cameron wasn’t involved in any of the sequels or the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series (which was actually well received by fans, but was canceled after only two seasons). Pivotal character Sarah Connor was played by Hamilton in the first two movies (and Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey in the TV series), but was written out of 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and 2009’s Terminator Salvation, and was played by fellow Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke in 2015’s poorly received reboot Terminator Genisys.

But now Cameron has finally returned to the Terminator franchise to hopefully right the ship. He’s too busy directing multiple Avatar sequels we’re not sure anyone is really dying to see to actually direct the new Terminator film, but he is producing and has come up with the film’s story. Tim Miller (who directed the worldwide box office smash Deadpool) is directing this one and there is a trilogy of films being planned in a writers room featuring David Goyer (The Dark Knight Trilogy), Chris Eglee, Justin Rhodes, and Josh Friedman. Friedman is of note because we was behind Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which was a better follow-up to the first two films than any of the movie sequels, but was alas cancelled after its second season in 2009 due to falling ratings. The new film will disregard all the Terminator sequels and reboots that Cameron wasn’t involved in and will be a direct sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

There’s been no mention of John Connor, the son of Sarah, who was played by Edward Furlong in Terminator 2, Nick Stahl in Terminator 3, Thomas Dekker in The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Christian Bale in Terminator Salvation, and Jason Clarke in Terminator Genisys. If Furlong was in better shape, it’d be nice to see him return, but his various personal issues would likely get in the way of that. So may we suggest The Walking Dead‘s Norman Reedus as an adult John Connor, who has a similar look and is only a few years older than Furlong.

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