‘Terminator 7’: Linda Hamilton Confirms Sarah Connor Won’t Return for New Sequel
Adding to this week’s trend of stories about odd or unnecessary follow-up films, we have news about James Cameron’s currently untitled Terminator film. Franchise staple Linda Hamilton will not be returning as Sarah Connor. In fact, she seemed as surprised as the rest of us that it was even happening. StreamIndie Films
via: Bloody Disgusting
The inherent nature of James Cameron‘s The Terminator franchise and its time-traveling narrative means there are a lot of complications when it comes to what is canon. With each new movie, there are narrative components introduced that potentially contradict previous movies, though with the story itself being about making changes in the past to impact the future, we can cut the series a bit more slack than other franchises.
Against all odds, 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate brought back Linda Hamilton to reprise her role of Sarah Connor for the first time since Terminator 2: Judgement Day. While that movie was poised to reinvigorate the beloved series, the movie fell short of financial expectations, despite featuring an on-screen reunion between Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Cameron is currently developing a new entry in the series, and whatever Terminator 7 looks like, star Hamilton confirmed she won’t be returning. In fact, while speaking with JustWatch, the actor wasn’t even aware that a new entry was being developed.
When the topic of the new sequel came up, Hamilton questioned, “He did say another? He said that?” Then confirmed, “I’m out. I don’t know, the last one didn’t perform well financially, so I’m very surprised to hear there’s going to be another one. Thanks for the news.”
After years away from the series, Cameron served as a producer on Dark Fate, while Tim Miller directed. The movie only took in $261.1 million worldwide, and had a reported budget of nearly $200 million, making it the lowest-grossing movie in the series outside of the original, which was more of a cult classic. Reviews, though, were a bit better than its predecessors, as it sits at 70% positive reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. This puts it behind only the first two movies, and it ties Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
The actor doesn’t seem to harbor any ill will towards the series, as she confirmed, “I wish everyone well. We’ll see what happens next.”
Hamilton mostly seems surprised that Cameron would attempt to extend the series, given how frustrating the reception of Dark Fate was. Additionally, Cameron himself previously confirmed that he was hoping to move away from elements of past movies and push the series into the future.
“I can safely say [Arnold Schwarzenegger] won’t be [in it],” Cameron revealed to The Hollywood Reporter in 2025. “It’s time for a new generation of characters. I insisted Arnold had to be involved in Terminator: Dark Fate, and it was a great finish to him playing the T-800.”
He continues, “There needs to be a broader interpretation of Terminator and the idea of a time war and super intelligence. I want to do new stuff that people aren’t imagining … The things that scare you the most are exactly the things you should be doing. Nobody should be operating artistically from a comfort zone.”
Terminator 7 doesn’t yet have a release date.
Are you disappointed that Hamilton won’t be in the new sequel? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments