James Cameron may be hard at work on the upcoming Avatar sequels at the moment, but that’s not stopping him from getting fans excited for the return of the Terminator this fall. After calling the upcoming action flick Terminator 6 for some time, Cameron is making it somewhat official with an update on the title. Here's what he said:
We're calling it Dark Fate. So Terminator: Dark Fate. At least that’s our working title right now.
Exciting! The title gives us something to work with in terms of what to expect from the next Terminator movie. Dark Fate gives the film… well an implied "dark" tone. The use of the term "fate" certainly plays well into the time travel element of the Terminator franchise and stirs up a few chills about what exactly this "dark fate" will be. But remember, as the Terminator franchise has taught us, "There's no fate but what we make for ourselves."
Per James Cameron’s words to Yahoo! Entertainment, the title isn’t quite official yet, but it’s certainly an intriguing development for the film, straight from the man who started the franchise back in 1984. Although he only serves as executive producer on this project, Dark Fate will mark the first time he will be involved in a Terminator movie since 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Deadpool director Tim Miller is helming Terminator: Dark Fate and the movie is set to star Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, along with two new leads played by Mackenzie Davis and Natalia Reyes, with Gabriel Luna as the new Terminator. The movie will also will ignore every Terminator sequel after Judgment Day. James Cameron also told Yahoo! this:
I said, ‘I can’t be involved in this film at all if Arnold [Schwarzenegger] is not in it.’ ... Fans are [also] going to want to see [Linda Hamilton] again, and they’re going to want to see the real Sarah Connor and what time and dealing with these tragic futures has done to her. How it's hardened her even more, but in a way that made her much stronger. Maybe less likable, but stronger. And ultimately she becomes a really important character in kind of passing the baton to the new characters that come into it. It’s a very female-centric film, which I’m glad Tim [Miller] embraced those themes.
James Cameron knows what the fans want! Seeing Linda Hamilton back in action as Sarah Conner for the first time in almost 30 years is likely worth the price of admission on its own. It's hard to imagine how she could be even more hardened than in T2, though, and don't even start with "likable." She's an icon. His comments also make it sound like the installment might set things up for the franchise to continue through the new cast… which has failed in the past (cough cough 2015’s Terminator Genisys). But with more original collaborators on hand, the next time could be the charm.
Terminator: Dark Fate -- the title for now, and maybe for good -- is coming to theaters on November 1, 2019.
