Terminator: Dark Fate’s Linda Hamilton calls previous three films “very forgettable”

In keeping with its most iconic line of dialogue, the Terminator franchise is back. James Cameron gave us two of the greatest sci-fi action films of all time in 1984’s The Terminator and 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day, but after he stepped away from the franchise it went totally off the rails. One very meh sequel and two failed reboot attempts later, and Cameron is finally back to terminatin’ again.

The upcoming Terminator: Dark Fate (which Cameron recently revealed as the film’s working title) sees the veteran filmmaker teaming up with Deadpool director Tim Miller (Cameron is producing and helped develop the story) for a direct sequel to T2, completely ignoring the events of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation, and Terminator Genisys. More importantly, this opens the way for original leading lady Linda Hamilton to return to her most iconic role as Sarah Connor… and she really doesn’t think highly of those other three movies without her. While at Cinemacon, the 62-year old actress told Variety that “They’re very forgettable, aren’t they?”

You start something and you’re invested in the franchise, but somehow the characters that you care about weren’t there. Too many people, too many story points. So I think we’ve done a good job of narrowing down the focus again so it will echo the first two films.

Hamilton has only popped up very sporadically in a handful of small films in recent years, and you would have to go back to the 1990s to find the last time she headlined a major studio production. And it was no small decision for her to get back to playing Sarah Connor.

I gave it probably six weeks of intense thinking and consideration before deciding to do it. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. I didn’t want it to look like a shameless money grab. I am living this quiet, lovely life that doesn’t involve being a celebrity, and you really have to think, do I really want to trade that in again for another 15 minutes?

Much like Salvation and Genisys attempted, the plan is for Miller’s film to be the start of a brand new trilogy. However, Connor jokingly reveals that after this film “I’m going to fake my own death so I don’t have to do another one.” At least I hope it was a joke!

Filming on Terminator: Dark Fate wrapped late last year and is currently in post-production for 1 November release date.

Last Updated: April 5, 2019