James Cameron Has Confirmed Two Details About His Next Terminator Movie

James Cameron's first feature as a credited director was for the 1982 creature feature "Piranha II: The Spawning." That film might not count, however, as Cameron has said repeatedly in interviews that he was fired two weeks into filming and creative control was taken over by producer Ovidio G. Assonitis. Cameron's claims have been disputed. One can have no doubt, however, that Cameron's next film, 1984's "The Terminator," was wholly his. The time-travel story about an evil flesh-covered robot from the future was shot on a modest $6.4 million budget, but made a whopping $78 million at the box office, cementing Cameron as a filmmaker to watch. He soon became Hollywood royalty, making some of the most ambitious (not to mention expensive) movies of all time. Cameron has directed three of the five highest-grossing films of all time. 

Cameron has remained a part of the "Terminator" film series off-and-on ever since. He wrote and directed "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" in 1991, although he stepped away from the series for 2003's "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" and only served as an early consultant on 2009's "Terminator Salvation" and 2015's "Terminator: Genisys." Cameron returned to co-write and produce 2019's "Terminator: Dark Fate." Arnold Schwarzenegger has starred in all the "Terminator" films to date, "Salvation" notwithstanding. 

It seems that Cameron isn't done with the series either, eager to make a seventh feature film. In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Cameron has said that he wants to take a break from making "Avatar" movies to look back on his own killer cyborg drama. And, as he said in the interview, he has some ideas. No, Schwarzenegger will not be in it. Yes, it will be a new original story, and not based on nostalgia.

Because the "Terminator" series is based around time travel, some of the later films have gotten very convoluted about their timeline and order of events. Characters from newer movies travel into the events of older movies, change the timeline, and reboot certain events. It's all very convoluted. Cameron, who wasn't involved in "Terminator 3" through "Genisys," prefers to ignore those movies, seeing "Dark Fate" as a direct sequel to "Terminator 2." Although Schwarzenegger plays a robot, it is explained that he is surrounded by living human skin that appears to age in the usual way. Schwarzenegger is now 78 years old, making him a little too old to play an action-capable super-cyborg. About that, Cameron said that 

"I can safely say [Schwarzenegger] won't be [in it]. [...] 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. There needs to be a broader interpretation of Terminator and the idea of a time war and superintelligence. I want to do new stuff that people aren't imagining."

A lot of the previous "Terminator" sequels have been retro-dramas for fans. They contain repeated catchphrases, similar conceits, and callbacks to previous movies. Cameron seems happy to push the series in a new direction "once the dust settles from 'Avatar.'" As for the story, he said, "There are a lot of narrative problems to solve. The biggest is how do I stay enough ahead of what's really happening to make it science fiction?"

When pressed on his progress on a seventh "Terminator" feature, Cameron clarified that he hadn't written anything yet and was only spitballing the premise. The Hollywood Reporter interviewer asked if his potential new film might resemble a deep-dive retro project like Noah Hawley's new TV series "Alien: Earth." This was an apt comparison, as Cameron wrote and directed the 1986 "Alien" sequel "Aliens." Cameron has seen "Alien: Earth," and he likes it fine, but he responded by saying that he has no interest anymore in making something safe and fan-friendly. He expressly said that the nostalgia approach is 100% not what he wanted to do with "Terminator." Cameron said: 

"I'm not criticizing ['Alien: Earth'], but I was there for 'Aliens,' what, 41 years ago? Something like that wouldn't be of interest to me. [...] The things that scare you the most are exactly the things you should be doing. [...] Nobody should be operating artistically from a comfort zone."

Cameron has previously said that he only wanted to make "Avatar" sequels throughout the rest of his career, but after the third, "Avatar: Fire and Ash," he seems to have become a little burnt out and is walking back his statement. Indeed, he has already expressed interest in making an epic war drama called "Ghosts of Hiroshima," and has purchased the film rights to the novel "The Devils" by Joe Abercrombie. Time will tell what Cameron, 71, will do next. We can be sure, however, that it will be the biggest, most ambitious film of his career; Cameron, it seems, won't make a movie unless it aims to be the biggest of all time.