When is Terminator: Dark Fate released in cinemas? Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton return
The original stars will reunite for the first time in 28 years for the new sequel
Linda Hamilton is reprising her iconic role of Sarah Connor for the first time in 28 years, starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger for Deadpool director Tim Miller's latest instalment to the Terminator franchise.
James Cameron has also found time in his busy Avatar schedule to return as a producer.
Here's everything you need to know about Terminator: Dark Fate, including trailers, cast, plot and release date.
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When is Terminator: Dark Fate out in cinemas?
Terminator: Dark Fate is set to be released in cinemas on the 23rd October in the UK and 1st November in the US.
Is there a Terminator: Dark Fate trailer?
We have the full trailer for Terminator: Dark Fate! Watch it below.
A teaser was released earlier this year too.
In the footage we're introduced to Mackenzie Davis' half-human, half-Terminator character, whose attempts to save a young girl from time-travelling Terminator assassins are aided by a grizzled Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton).
At San Diego Comic-Con, a special behind-the-scenes feature was unveiled showing a lot more exciting action scenes from the upcoming movie, many starring Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800.
Who stars in Terminator: Dark Fate?
Arnold Schwarzenegger reprises his role as the assassin robot T-800, while Linda Hamilton is set to return as Sarah Connor, a headstrong warrior.
"There is a real gift in that so much time has passed, and that gives me so much more to explore with the character," Hamilton said of her return.
"Sarah Connor is the same person but I wanted to see how the difference in events have changed her and shaped her and send her forward. There was meat there. I didn’t want to just recycle the same idea. It’s a woman who has a different mission, a different story, so I wanted to see what we could do with that."
"When we started, we just didn’t know if she would do it," Miller said.
"Jim [Cameron] was very honest about, 'Look, I’ll ask her but I don’t know what she’s going to say.' But he did and she was interested. Like a nervous deer, we had to creep up on her and convince her one step at a time to do it."
At San Diego Comic-Con it was revealed that Edward Furlong, who memorably played the young John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, will also make his first return to the franchise since that movie, though it's expected to only be a small role.
Jude Collie will serve as a body double for the younger Furlong in flashbacks, with Furlong's likeness achieved with CGI technology.
Co-starring in the new film are Mackenzie Davis (The F Word, Black Mirror) as a cyborg soldier called Grace sent from the future to protect Dani Ramos, a young woman targeted for death played by Natalia Reyes.
Gabriel Luna (Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) also stars as a new part liquid, part-exoskeleton Terminator called Rev-9. He has the ability to split into two separate Terminator units. Diego Boneta will also star in the film as Dani's older brother Miguel.
How does it fit in with other Terminator films?
The film will serve as a direct sequel to 1984’s The Terminator and 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day — meaning it will disregard the events of other Terminator films including 2015's Terminator Genisys, starring Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke and Doctor Who actor Matt Smith.
"I honestly believe this would be the best version of the movie after the second one," director Tim Miller told Entertainment Weekly.
"This will be more clear when you see the movie, but the first two movies really deal with time as a loop, what’s happening is the same thing that happened before and everybody is fighting to ensure that happens again. And Jim [Cameron] had this lucky break that he only broke that rule at the end of Terminator 2 when Sarah destroys Cyberdyne, it’s the first thing that happened that hadn’t happened before, and so it was going to change the future — but no one knew how.
"And I don’t think the movies that came after it really explored that in a clean way like I believe we are, with true consequences, and it makes perfect sense for Sarah to be the one to face those consequences since they were her choices to begin with."
Miller went so far as to say that Genisys was "not good" in a candid interview with Total Film. “There have been some… misfires,” he added, “You don’t want it to go out that way as a fan. I wanted the franchise to have some kind of noble future again. I wanted to help with that because I love The Terminator so, so much.”
It's possible that Dark Fate could mark the beginning of a new series of Terminator films, if it's a success at the box office. "We rolled up our sleeves and started to break out the story and when we got a handle on something we looked at it as a three-film arc, so there is a greater story there to be told," Cameron told Deadline. "If we get fortunate enough to make some money with Dark Fate we know exactly where we can go with the subsequent films."
What's Terminator: Dark Fate about?
Hamilton previously told Variety that she thought that Dark Fate would do justice to the earlier instalments: “I think we’ve done a good job of narrowing down the focus again so it will echo the first two films."
"She’s a woman without a country," Hamilton added of her character in the new film.
"Her original mission has changed due to circumstances and she really doesn’t have a team anymore, she just has a thirst for vengeance, so that makes her very alone. She’s still a wildcard, but a wildcard without a real true mission is a lot more unpredictable. Basically very hard for her to find her humanity, so once again we get to take a journey on that level, to have some deep things that need to be rediscovered for her survival."
How come Arnold Schwarzenegger is returning?
On reuniting the two leads, Schwarzenegger and Hamilton, producer James Cameron said: "You know, I didn't work that closely with Linda. She had some concerns about the script. I wound up writing a few pages based on her questions and notes, when they were really just getting into the start of principal photography.
"Arnold, as always, is a dream to work with," he added, in an interview with Digital Spy.
"He wanted things explained, like, 'Why does the character do this? Why does the character do that?' I said, 'Here's why. Here's how it works. There are a couple of funny scenes – this is how you've got to play them so that it's not too much, and not too little'.
"He said, 'OK, I've got it. I've got it, I've got it'. And he went off to Budapest, and did it. So we have a shorthand. He and I have a shorthand."
Schwarzenegger has revealed a first glimpse of his character on Twitter:
A series of official posters also give us a more detailed look at the film's other main cast.
Get ready and watch all the Terminator movies in order.
