Terminator: Dark Fate Debuts Stunning First Footage At CinemaCon

Who knew Terminator would still be one of the most-talked-about movie franchises in 2019?

And yet, here we are: clenching our fists in anticipation of Dark Fate, the sixth mainline installment in Skynet Skydance’s world-famous series. Behind the lens for this one is Tim Miller of Deadpool fame, and over the past number of months, he’s recruited an A-star ensemble cast made up of old heroes (Hamilton! Schwarzenegger!) and new characters.

It’s no wonder Terminator: Dark Fate has been billed as something of a fresh start for this legendary franchise, and while that’s not the first time we’ve described a new Terminator movie as another beginning (see: Genisys), there’s a palpable sense of excitement swirling around Dark Fate – particularly now that the film’s debuted its first reel of footage.

In attendance at CinemaCon 2019 was Brandon Davis of ComicBook.com, who relayed a detailed description of the Dark Fate trailer. It’s fairly light on spoilers, and merely describes the war-torn environment and how the likes of Mackenzie Davis and Gabriel Luna fit into the overall story.

Mexico City. A highway suddenly starts to freeze. Electric volts start to emerge. People start to notice. An orb forms in the middle of a bridge, putting a hole in it. Cars crash. A couple that was making out on the hood of a car beneath the bridge sees a woman fall from the bridge, completely naked. They head over to her and discover she is alive. It’s Mackenzie Davis’ enhanced character. Police pull up. They question the couple and arrest one. The entire scene is in Spanish with subtitles. When they try to take the woman, she switches into combat mode and eliminates the officers swiftly and soundly. She doesn’t kill them, though. The couple thanks her for freeing them. She slowly walks to them, plants her foot right next to his, and says, ‘Don’t thank me yet.’ Cut ahead a moment and she is driving away wearing his clothes, leaving him out there without any.

We know Miller worked closely with James Cameron while creating Dark Fate and its post-apocalyptic story, so it isn’t all that surprising to hear that the November blockbuster sticks closely to the tried-and-tested formula. That said, we suspect there are some surprises still in store.

Via ComicBook.com:

Later, somewhere else, Gabriel Luna’s Terminator forms near a car crash. Davis’ character is protecting Dani Ramos and tells her, ‘When they start to kill me run.’ Suddenly, Linda Hamilton pulls up in a truck and hits one of the Terminators with her car before emerging and turning her attention to Luna’s. She destroys him with a gun, sending him off the bridge, just before using a rocket launcher to blast the other machine. A montage of clips plays. It’s violent, it’s dark, it’s tremendously computerized and appears to be establishing a fully immersive world. Back to the bridge, Hamilton drops a grenade and tells Davis, ‘I’ll be back.’ Sarah Conner walks off, pulling out a shotgun as the explosion is carried out behind her.

Terminator: Dark Fate boots online November 1st. Don’t miss it.