Paramount Pictures and Skydance have released the firstTerminator: Dark Fatetrailer for the sixth installment in the popular franchise. Rather than a total reboot,Dark Fateis described as a sequel toJames Cameron’s iconic 1991 follow-upTerminator 2: Judgment Dayand findsLinda Hamiltonreprising her role as Sarah Connor for the first time since that film.Arnold Schwarzeneggeris also back as the T-800, with a story that takes the franchise in a new direction with new leads played byMackenzie Davis(Halt and Catch Fire),Natalia Reyes(Birds of Passage),Gabriel Luna(Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), andDiego Boneta(Rock of Ages). Luna plays the new Terminator, and the film’s tagline points towards a post-Judgment Day setting.
Cameron is involved as a producer this time around, steering a story that’s spearheaded by directorTim Miller, who previously helmed the smash-hit R-rated comic book adaptationDeadpool. In fact,Terminator: Dark Fatemarks Miller’s first feature film sinceDeadpool, after departingDeadpool 2over creative differences. Although we recently saw new work from Miller in the form of the Netflix animated anthology seriesLove, Death & Robots, which he created.
Miller works from a story by Cameron,Charles Eglee(who created the Cameron-produced TV seriesDark Angel),Josh Friedman(who created the TV seriesThe Sarah Connor Chronicles),David Goyer(Man of Steel), andJustin Rhodes(Grassroots), with Goyer and Rhodes scoring the “screenplay by” credit.
Check out theTerminator: Dark Fatetrailer below. The film opens in theaters on July 20, 2025.
Welcome to the day after Judgment Day. Producer James Cameron returns with director Tim Miller for Terminator: Dark Fate. In theatres 11.1.19.
Linda Hamilton (“Sarah Connor”) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (“T-800”) return in their iconic roles in Terminator: Dark Fate, directed by Tim Miller (Deadpool) and produced by visionary filmmaker James Cameron and David Ellison. Following the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator: Dark Fate also stars Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, and Diego Boneta.
Though the new installment in the franchise is ignoring the third through fifth films, this trailer pays some not-so-subtle nods to them anyway. The most obvious one is the arrival of Sarah Connor on the scene brandishing some badass firepower. It’s reminiscent of a pair ofTerminator 3: Rise of the Machinesmoments where Arnie’s rehabilitated Terminator fires away with a Browning M1919 and an RPG. The difference is that Sarah’s the Terminator-terminator now.
Some other story points nod back to the original mythology, that of a metal assassin traveling back in time to eliminate Sarah Connor so that John Connor, the leader of the human rebellion, will never be born. This time around, however, the anti-Terminator team is protecting Dani Ramos (Reyes) from an all-new title terror, played by Luna. This Terminator is an evolution of those models seen in Cameron’s first two films: The liquid-metal mode is back with a new wrinkle, one that allows it to replicate itself rather than just regenerate. (Or maybe this Terminator has a liquid metal component than can operate independently of its solid metal frame, and vice versa?) How many copies it can make remains to be seen, but it’s clear that this model is a 2-in-1 deal, making it twice as tough to defeat.
However, Sarah Connor’s team doesn’t just have her grit, determination, and experience on their side, it also has Davis' Grace, a self-professed human who has metal armor beneath her skin and heightened combat abilities, and the T-800 in the form of Schwarzenegger’s scarred, grizzled, and aged Terminator. How this all plays out remains to be seen, but this trailer’s a good start. Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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