James Cameron Says ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ Takes Place Over 36 Hours, Hopeful for R Rating

We have so many questions about the upcoming 6th entry in the Terminator franchise, like why Terminator: Dark Fate for a title and not the working title of Phoenix? Okay, that one is kind of easy, because what comic title is opening this year too? Is it Dark Phoenix, the final X-Men film from Fox? Yes, yes it is.

But- there are OTHER questions. Like, what makes Dark Fate so special? Yes, the return of Linda FREAKING Hamilton makes the particular post-Terminator 2 film more unique, but James Cameron has some additional thoughts on that topic.

“I think, tonally, what makes this a direct sequel to T1 and T2 is as much about the tone as it is about the narrative: It’s R rated, it’s grim, it’s gritty, it’s fast, it’s intense, it’s very linear. The whole story takes place in 36 hours. It’s not this kind of grandiose, complex story. It’s just very focused on the characters, it’s very now, it’s very present and it’s just a fast white-knuckle ride,” Cameron told Flicks in the City in a recent interview. (Which sure seems like the source for some of the tidbits in that behind-the-scenes video released right after the first Dark Fate teaser.)

“I think the best way to think about Terminator: Dark Fate is to think about it as a direct sequel to Terminator 2, the third film in a series, if you will,” Cameron continued. “We’ll be continuing with Sarah’s story, John’s story, and the T-800 returns — a different T-800 with a very different role to play than what we’ve seen before.”

“The principle of our movie is that there’s an inevitable conflict between humans and the intelligent machines that they make. And all [Sarah Connor has] done is kick the can down the road from her future back in the ’80s to our future now in 2019. Judgment Day is right around the corner, yet again. It’s an inevitability. So she’s kicked the can, she’s going to have to try to kick it again and again. The war never ends. So Sarah has become a Terminator hunter. She’s not waiting to be hunted by a Terminator, she hunts them. She’s figured out a way to be there when they pop through time and she just blows their shit away.”

No but literally. Blowing them away, with a rocket launcher.

“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.”

Terminator: Dark Fate is set to hit theaters on November 1st 2019. We’ll let you know what we hear about an official rating.