Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton are back in these exclusive images from Terminator: Dark Fate

"If I was just a fan, standing outside all of this, I’d say, ‘Terminator 6? Why? Why the fuck are they making another one?!’" says Tim Miller, the director of the upcoming sixth Terminator movie, titled Terminator: Dark Fate. The new movie will bypass every Terminator movie since Terminator 2: Judgment Day, meaning that Rise of the Machines, Salvation, and Genisys – which Miller tactfully describes as “misfires” – no longer count in the franchise's canon. 

For the latest issue of Total Film magazine, the director, along with actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, spoke at length about Terminator: Dark Fate. You can also see exclusive images from the movie above and below, revealing new looks at T-800 and Sarah Connor, as well as the new Terminator, Rev-9, played by Gabriel Luna (Agents of SHIELD), and Mackenzie Davis as the mysterious super-soldier Grace.

“I think the brand has been tainted a little bit,” Miller admits. “I don’t want to disparage the work of any of those movies, and some of them were interesting, but I feel like they just played in the world of The Terminator – it was essentially a different thing. T2 was just one of those events that was a fucking revelation. It's one of those films that everyone remembers what they were doing when they first saw it. I still don’t think I realise what I’m doing trying to follow that up…”

For those Terminator fans worried about how Dark Fate fits into the overly complicated timeline, fear not. “There was the first movie. Then there was the second movie. Then, after about 27 years, it’s our movie!” laughs producer Bonnie Curtis, consigning all three “other sequels” to a new alternate timeline that no longer makes any sense. Judgement Day didn’t happen in 1997, but it didn’t happen in 2004 either. Skynet never became self-aware, the nuclear war didn’t happen and Sarah and John Connor were left to grow up in peace.

Interestingly, when Miller came in to work on the movie, there was no script, "or even a plan", the director says. Luckily, though, there was one big name who quickly signed on: James Cameron. “No one knows the franchise like Jim Cameron," Miller continues. "He’s is one of the smartest guys you will ever meet. Just to be able to go to the source instead of constantly asking yourself, ‘What would Jim do?’ It was invaluable.” Returning as producer after years of being less than complimentary about some of the other pequels, Cameron got involved in every step of the production to make sure that it picked up where he left off.

Miller spoke at length with Total Film magazine about his approach to Dark Fate, while Hamilton and Schwarzenegger touched on why they decided to return to the franchise. The new issue reaches store shelves on September 20. Meanwhile, Terminator: Dark Fate lands in cinemas on October 23.

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