Arnold Schwarzenegger On How 'Terminator 6' Can Possibly Be A Thing That Exists
He'll be back. We definitely know that much about actor Arnold Schwarzenegger when it comes to James Cameron and Tim Miller's untitled Terminator 6, and we know the film will reunite him with Terminator and T2 star Linda Hamilton, who will be reprising her role of Sarah Connor once again.
But in a new interview, Schwarzenegger reveals the filmmakers' approach to the upcoming sequel, and it all boils down to simplifying the franchise's convoluted timeline as much as possible.
Speaking with Business Insider, the former bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-governor-turned-actor-again says he thought the time travel elements of 2015's Terminator Genisys were too confusing and acknowledged the difficulty of being boxed in by continuity and keeping all of those aspects straight. "It's hard to come up with new ideas when you stay within that framework," he said. But he believes the new movie will streamline things considerably:
"I think [James] Cameron and Tim [Miller] came up with a concept where they can continue on with the T-800 but make a whole new movie. What they are doing now with this one is basically to just take a few very basic characters, like Linda Hamilton's character and my character, and dismiss everything else. Just move away from all these rules of the timeline and other characters."
Cameron previously said that the production was searching for an 18-year-old actress to serve as "the new centerpiece of the story," and while we knew this movie would essentially forget everything that happened after Terminator 2, this is the first we're hearing that the sequel will basically ignore the rules of time travel and drop other significant characters from the mix.
But what could that actually mean for the film? Not having Kyle Reese might not be that big of a deal, but John Connor has always been the focal point around which the entire franchise revolved. What if there's no John Connor this time? What if this new young actress is playing Sarah's daughter? Could John Connor have a sister? What might her place be in the human revolution against Skynet? What would that character be like, living in the shadow of a brother who's supposed to save the world? That's a lot of speculation on my part, but it might be the breath of fresh air this franchise needs to shake it out of its rut and give it some new ideas and new life.
Terminator 6 hits theaters on July 26, 2019.