The Terminator franchise has seen it’s ups and downs, but after 35 long years, director and series creator James Cameron is back, having reclaimed the rights to his beloved science fiction series at the beginning of 2019.
Last night a Terminator: Dark Fate featurette was revealed at the Hall H panel during San Diego Comic-Con 2019, and now we cannot wait to see Dark Fate hit theatres on October 25, 2019. We also learned yesterday that the upcoming Terminator film will be R-Rated, will feature new and former cast members, and will (mic drop) recreate the ending of the iconic sci-fi action film, Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Although fans were hoping for a new full-length trailer, the new Dark Fate featurette was well worth the wait. The action-packed video features various clips from the upcoming film as well as commentary from director Tim Miller, James Cameron, Linda Hamilton and more.
While speaking with at the SDCC 2019 early today, Tim Miller revealed that Dark Fate will recreate the ending of Terminator 2: Judgment Day using CGI and body doubles (more details below), which means the start of Dark Fate will likely begin by reshooting the fallout of Cyberdyne’s destruction and Sarah Connor’s rise as the leader of Resistance.
Here’s what Miller had to say about the end of T2:
“Jim [Cameron] had this lucky break that he only broke that rule at the end of Terminator 2 when Sarah destroys Cyberdyne, it’s the first thing that happened that hadn’t happened before, and so it was going to change the future — but no one knew how. And I don’t think the movies that came after it really explored that in a clean way like I believe we are, with true consequences, and it makes perfect sense for Sarah to be the one to face those consequences since they were her choices to begin with.”
Miller also confirmed today that Dark Fate will, like previous installments of the Terminator franchise, be R-rated.
“It’s because the fans kinda demanded it, in a way, they felt … the DNA of Terminator is an R-rated fucking movie so to not do it R, it feels disingenuous to the source material.”
We’d like to point out that although Terminator 1-3 were R-rated, both Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys were only rated PG-13, which is part of the reason the movies performed poorly and were panned by both critics and fans.
Even though it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen, James Cameron confirmed today at SDCC 2019 that Edward Furlong will reprise his role as John Connor in Dark Fate.
Furlong previously played the Connor in the Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), a film many consider one of the greatest sci-fi action movies of all time and arguably Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most iconic performance.
With Edward Furlong now 41 years old and Dark Fate picking up shortly after the events of Terminator: Judgment Day, child actor Jude Collie was brought in to replace Furlong as a young John Connor during the flashback.
Getting cast in a first movie and working alongside the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton must be a dream come true for Collie. His resemblance to John Connor is undeniable.
As you might have guessed, Arnold Schwarzenegger will once again return to the role that made his career, only this time around the 71-year-old action star will play an aging T-800 that has grown and evolved immensely since we last saw him.
During an interview with Hollywood Reporter, Cameron explained why an aging T-800 makes complete sense:
You don’t have to get around it. The beauty of it is: He’s a cyborg. And so, the org part is on the outside, meaning organism. And Reese says it in the first film: “They sweat. They have bad breath.” Because they were supposed to be infiltration units, so there’s this idea that flesh sort of sheaths over a metal endo-skeleton. So that would age normally. So, obviously he’s one that’s been in action and operation for a long time. And that’s all I want to say about the actual story part of it.
Much like Schwarzenegger, Dark Fate will also mark Linda Hamilton’s return to the iconic movie franchise after more than 25 years. Hamilton last portrayed Sarah Connor in 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day, although it’s worth pointing out that her voice was used in two scenes (uncredited) of McG’s less than stellar, Terminator: Salvation, released back in 2009.
In a recent interview with Variety, Hamilton was asked about the previous three Terminator films and actresses’ didn’t hold back, saying “They’re very forgettable, aren’t they?” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
Terminator: Dark Fate will feature the return of both Schwarzenegger and Hamilton, as well as newcomers Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, Diego Boneta, Jude Collie, and Mackenzie Davis.
Reyes, known best for Lady, La Vendedora de Rosas and the Netflix film Pickpockets, will play Dani Ramos, a young woman who’s been targeted for termination by a new form of Terminator (Luna). Luckily for her, a soldier-assassin named Grace, played by Blade Runner 2049‘s Davis, has been sent to protect her.
Collie will play a younger John Connor, with Edward Furlong’s facial likeness being applied using CGI.
American actor Gabriel Luna will portray a new version of the deadly Terminator in the upcoming movie. Unlike past versions, Luna plays a Terminator that’s made of liquid metal who is capable of splitting into two separate units. He’s been sent to terminate Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes).
Fans will likely know Luna best for his portrayal of Robbie Reyes a.k.a. Ghost Rider on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but for those seeking more of the actor’s work, he also played Tony Bravo on Matador and Paco Contreras on Wicked City, as well as starring in films like Bernie (2011), Balls Out (2014), and Gravy (2015).
Before choosing Luna as the new Terminator, Stephen Lang, Ron Perlman, Liam Neeson, Jean Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Sylvester Stallone, Dave Bautista, Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Richard Gere, and Bruce Willis were are considered.
Even though we think Luna was the right choice, someone like Dave Bautista or Dwayne Johnson would’ve been interesting.
Before stepping away from the franchise in the mid-’90s, James Cameron was planning to release a third Terminator film but when Carolco Pictures filed for bankruptcy, Andrew G. Vajna and Mario F. Kassar purchased the rights to the franchise, subsequently leading to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines being made without Cameron involvement. The famed director initially sold the rights of the Terminator for $1 to producer Gale Ann Hurd (Cameron’s ex-wife) and in exchange, the studio could not fire him as director. Luckily for us, the deal also stated that Cameron would regain control of the franchise in 35 years, which to did on January 1, 2019.
Back on September 12, 2017, Skydance Media announced that director Tim Miller, known best for Deadpool and Love, Death and Robots, will spearhead the new Terminator movie alongside Cameron.
While discussing the next Terminator film with HR, Miller revealed that his exit from Deadpool 2 opened the doors for Dark Fate.
To some degree, all the stories that I love are based on pre-existing materials as either a book I love or a movie I love. And I don’t make a whole lot of distinction between those two things. Story is story. I mean, I wanted to make Deadpool 2. I was going to do that, until I wasn’t. So, there was that, which took up about seven months of my time. But even then, David and I were talking, like after Deadpool 2, it was going to be this [Terminator].
Miller went on to explain that although he was looking forward to creating Deadpool 2, he has no hard feelings and wishes them the best.
I felt like there was more stories to tell there, but I’m happy that somebody else is telling them. And I’ve got to tell you, there was a sense of relief in that I get to do something new versus Deadpool 2. I think it would’ve been a great movie, but it was also going to be a continuation of what we had done. This really is gave me a chance to do something new.
Brent Azar will once again serve as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s body double during the film, which he began doing in Terminator: Genisys. Schwarzenegger’s face is recreated overtop Azar’s, similar to how Marvel Studios made Samuel L Jackson look so young in Captain Marvel.
Other than playing Schwarzenegger’s body double, Azar might be known best for starring alongside Ryan Reynolds in a humorous Toonblast commercial.
Terminator: Dark Fate will be released by Paramount Pictures in North America and Disney will handle the distribution of the film outside of North America, taking over for 20th Century Fox following the merger.
This is the third time a Paramount Pictures film will be distributed by Disney, internationally, the first two being Popeye (1980) and Dragonlayer (1981).
Dark Fate was previously scheduled to release on July 26, 2019, but after production was pushed back by four months in April of 2018, Paramount Pictures changed the release date to November 1, 2019. These types of delays might sound concerning, but it’s worth noting that these sorts of things are quite common in the film industry. At this point, we don’t know why the film was delayed, but chances are Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox had something to do with it.
Back in January of this year, a special behind the scenes look at Terminator: Dark Fate was released, offering fans of the franchise a sneak peek at the cast and crew on the set of the film in Hungry. The video features both director Tim Miller and Arnold Schwarzenegger discussing the movie and thanking the people of Hungry for their generous hospitality. The video also features a few shots of Linda Hamilton, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, and Mackenzie Davis on set and in costume.
To view the behind the scenes look at Terminator: Dark Fate, follow this link.
Paramount Pictures released the first Terminator: Dark Fate teaser trailer on April 18, 2019, and one thing is for certain, having James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Linda Hamilton back just feels right.
The first Terminator: Dark Fate poster was released at the same time as the trailer above, which featured the return one of the most hardcore big-screen action heroes of all-time, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor. Dark Fate will be a continuation of the first two original Terminator movies.
Other than Connor looking like a badass, the poster reveals James Cameron’s return, Tim Miller’s involvement, and the tag line, “Welcome To The Day After Judgment Day.” And yes, they’re still using that strange spelling of ‘judgment’.
Under the supervision of both Miller and Cameron, a new Terminator trilogy is on the horizon, with writers David S. Goyer (Blade, Man of Steel), Justin Rhodes, and Charles H. Eglee (The Shield, Dexter) signed on to create the story for the new wave of Terminator films. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles creator, Josh Friedman, has also been brought on board to help with the story.
Here’s what Cameron had to say about the future of the Terminator franchise
The question is — has the franchise run its course or can it be freshened up? Can it still have relevance now where so much of our world is catching up to what was science fiction in the first two films. … So I am in discussions with David Ellison, who is the current rights holder globally for the Terminator franchise, and the rights in the U.S. market revert to me under U.S. copyright law in a year and a half. So he and I are talking about what we can do. Right now we are leaning toward doing a three-film arc and reinventing it.
