Terminator: Dark Fate is set to reboot the legendary sci-fi franchise once again – here’s all we know about the James Cameron produced sequel. Despite Terminator 2: Judgment Day being a massive success upon release in 1991, rights issues and other problems meant it was another 12 years before Arnold Schwarzenegger returned for Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines. While the third movie featured some slick action and a suitably dark ending, the lack of James Cameron’s involvement resulted in a hollow story and some cringe-inducing humor.
Terminator: Salvation from 2009 cast Christian Bale as John Connor, who fights against Skynet in the grim, post-apocalyptic future. Script issues famously plagued the production, resulting in a muddled story and a nonsensical ending, with Bale delivering an oddly flat performance. Having declined a return in Salvation due to performing his duties as Governor of California, Schwarzenegger returned for 2015’s Terminator: Genisys, which was a modest success but critically lambasted.
Terminator: Dark Fate will be released on November 1, 2019. The movie has actually been shuffled around the schedule a few times, with previous releases dates of July 26 and November 22, 2019, but the date appears to have been locked now.
Like Salvation proved, it doesn’t feel like a Terminator movie without Arnold Schwarzenegger, so thankfully the screen icon is returning for Terminator: Dark Fate. Equally as exciting is the return of Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor. Newcomers to the Terminator saga include Mackenzie Davis as a mysterious assassin character who might be part cyborg, Gabriel Luna as a new Terminator and Natalia Reyes as new heroine Dani Ramos.
Precious little is known about the actual storyline for Terminator: Dark Fate. Both Miller and Cameron have confirmed the events of Terminator 3 – 5 are being ignored, and the new movie will act as a direct follow-up to the first two movies. What else is known about the story has been parsed from interviews, which suggests Ramos’ will be the franchise’s new protagonist moving forwards.
Schwarzenegger will once again be playing an aged Terminator unit who has been living amongst humans for over 30 years. There will also be flashbacks to the events of T2, with body doubles standing in for both Schwarzenegger and Edward Furlong’s John Connor. What’s interesting to note is no actor has been cast as adult John Connor, suggesting the character either won’t appear in the new movie or may have died before the story begins.
Just like his recent anime adaptation Alita: Battle Angel, Cameron has mapped out a trilogy of stories for Terminator: Dark Fate. Both Miller and Cameron are adamant the movie work as a self-contained narrative, but should it prove to be a success there’s scope for two further adventures. Terminator 3 - 5actually form a trilogy of failed trilogy starters, with each of those entries designed to kick off direct sequels that didn't happen. Terminator: Salvation, for instance, would have seen Christian Bale's John Connor travel back in time to London and working with his mother to prevent a modern-day Skynet invasion.
