Terminator 6 Release Date Confirmed, Will Ignore Last Three Movies

The next Terminator movie has a release date. It has been confirmed that the sixth entry in the blockbuster sci-fi series will hit theaters on July 26, 2019. The film is to be directed by Deadpool's Tim Miller, with the franchise's creator James Cameron producing and helping to develop the story.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Terminator 6 will be a direct sequel to 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day and ignores the three movies in between. None of these films were critically well received, and 2015's Terminator Genisys was a box office disappointment.

Last week, it was confirmed that original stars Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger will return for the new movie. In an interview with THR, Miller gave no plot details away but did speak about the character of the Terminator himself. "Emotionally and intellectually he will have evolved," he said. "They're learning machines. But I think that's a way to make it different than it was. I think we should embrace his age. And that's what's going to make it interesting and fresh for the fans. And I can't tell you, but man, some of the scenes that the writers wrote to embrace that idea are f***ing fantastic. "

Television-style writers' rooms are becoming increasingly popular on big franchise movies, and the new Terminator is following this model. Writers who are working on the story include DC veteran David Goyer, Cameron's Dark Angel collaborator Charles Eglee, and Josh Friedman, who created the Terminator TV spinoff The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Miller also hinted that the movie might move away for the huge-scale, effects-laden style of Genisys and 2009's Terminator Salvation. "Believe me, there was no lack of things up on the whiteboard," he said. "He could do this and he could make a marching band out of endoplasmic metal, but who the f**k cares? I don't want to see that. So we're trying to keep it grounded like Jim did for Terminator."

There had been some confusion about whether a new Terminator would actually happen. Terminator: Genisys was originally intended to be the first part of a new trilogy, but its box office failure ended this plan. Subsequent reports suggested that Paramount had abandoned the idea of any more movies, before Cameron's return to the series was confirmed last week.