The Terminator Producer James Cameron Recalls Courting Linda Hamilton Back To The Series

Not for the first time, Skydance has pressed the hard reset button on James Cameron’s Terminator franchise.

But unlike Salvation and Terminator: Genisys, the Powers That Be have an ace in the hole in Linda Hamilton, who’s all set to reprise the iconic role of Sarah Connor for Cameron and Tim Miller’s “three-film reinvention.” That’s not to say Hamilton has signed for all three instalments; word is that James Cameron and fellow series stalwart David Ellison want to pass the torch onto a whole new generation of characters. Think of how Star Wars handled the transition from Jedi to 2015’s The Force Awakens.

And so, in balancing the old with the new, Skydance’s sixth Terminator film will place Linda Hamilton and the returning Arnold Schwarzenegger at its core, with Cameron and Miller said to be casting the net in search of an “18-something young woman to essentially be the new centerpiece of these stories.”

As for courting Linda Hamilton back to the franchise, James Cameron recalled picking up the telephone via The Hollywood Reporter:

Linda and I have a great relationship. We’ve stayed friends through the thick and thin of it all. And she is the mother of my eldest daughter. [They were married from 1997 to 1999.] So I called her up, and I said: ‘Look, we could rest on our laurels. It’s ours to lose, in a sense. We created this thing several decades ago. But, here’s what can be really cool. You can come back and show everybody how it’s done.’ Because in my mind, it hasn’t been done a whole lot since the way she did it back in ’91.

For a series that has arguably fallen foul of franchise fatigue in recent installments, no thanks to a string of less-than-stellar sequels, prequels and other continuations, bringing Hamilton back to the fold is an exciting step in the right direction.

When it comes to The Terminator‘s other screen veteran, James Cameron also hinted at the ways in which Miller’s revival will handle Arnold Schwarzenegger’s age. Because let’s face it, at 70 years young, Arnie is no longer a spring chicken.

There are certainly plenty of 50-, 60-, 70-something guys out there that just keep cranking along doing action movies and killing bad guys left and right. But there isn’t an example of that for women, and I think there should be.

Said to be targeting a production start in spring of 2018, The Terminator is fast beginning to coalesce under James Cameron and Tim Miller, but what are your hopes for their three-film reinvention? Do let us know.