Terminator 6: Linda Hamilton Returning as Sarah Connor

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Linda Hamilton, the original Sarah Connor, is reportedly returning for the upcoming Terminator sequel directed by Deadpool helmer Tim Miller. It will be Hamilton’s first turn as the heroic Connor since Terminator 2: Judgment Day in 1991.

Hamilton originally portrayed the character in the franchise’s first installment, The Terminator, in 1984. Connor was a young waitress who found herself hunted by the titular killer robot from the future – portrayed by future Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger – as she was destined to give birth to a pivotal figure in the coming war between humanity and the machines. Hamilton reprised the role in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a decidedly more battle-hardened version of Connor who found herself allied with a different version of Schwarzenegger’s muscle-bound robot in an effort to protect her young son from new threats from the future. That was Hamilton’s last turn in the role, though Sarah Connor has continued on, both in the TV series The Sarah Connor Chronicles, where she was played by Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey, and in the ill-fated big screen reboot attempt Terminator: Genisys, portrayed by yet another Game of Thrones veteran in Emilia Clarke.

It appears that the next Terminator film will go back to the series’ roots. Per a report from THR, James Cameron – director of the first two Terminator films and producer on Miller’s upcoming installment – has said sHamilton will return as Sarah Connor, alongside Schwarzenegger in a story that will serve as a direct sequel to Judgment Day. Cameron also indicates the film will hopefully be the beginning of a trilogy, and that they are looking for a young actress to eventually take on the mantle of the franchise.
 

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This is tremendously good news for fans wondering if the Terminator franchise had anything left in the tank. After the middling Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, a more radical overhaul of the property was attempted with Terminator Salvation, which shifted the setting to the future war where an adult John Connor (Christian Bale) led the resistance against the machines. That approach – which largely omitted Schwarzenegger – proved unsuccessful, and Terminator: Genisys was framed as something of a back-to-basics take on the franchise, once again set in modern times and with Schwarzenegger at the forefront. However, that movie’s story was a convoluted mess, and it was met with both critical disdain and non-existent domestic box office, leaving many to wonder if it was time to simply retire the venerable sci-fi franchise.

Both the involvement of Cameron and the return of Hamilton are the two biggest reasons to be excited about another Terminator installment in a long time, and might be the shot in the arm the franchise has needed for well over a decade.