‘Terminator’ Reboot Cast: Emilia Clarke Confirmed As Sarah Connor

The Terminator reboot is happening, and one of the film’s original characters has been officially recast. Sarah Connor is now being played by Game of Thrones‘ Emilia Clarke.

It was bound to happen. When The Terminator was released, it was considered the perfect marriage of science fiction and horror. Linda Hamilton played a waitress who had no idea why a terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) was trying to kill her, and a man claiming to be from the future that had arrived to save her. The man from the future turned out to be the father of the one who would save the world from a pending apocalypse.

Then we had Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which had a more advanced version of the terminator (Robert Patrick) go back in time to try and kill John Connor (Edward Furlong) before he could grow up and become the savior of mankind. It proved to be even better than its predecessor, with special effects and a story that are still among the best today.

In many fans’ minds, that should have been the end of the series. Instead, a third film was released which technically threw away the logic of the first two films, and insisted that the apocalypse was inevitable. After that, the fans had given up hope that the series would ever be as good as the second film, and it appears Hollywood has as well. Instead, they’ve decided to start over.

One of the latest in a long line of such films, the Terminator reboot will be the first part of a trilogy. This could be good news for fans who hated the way the original series had strayed from our expectations. Reboots and remakes aren’t always successful, though.

The role of Sarah Connor has been confirmed to be played by Emilia Clarke, while the role of an older John Connor will be filled by Jason Clarke from Zero Dark Thirty and The Great Gatsby. While it’s still too early to know if the Terminator reboot will live up to its expectations, there have been other reboots which debatably improved on their classic counterparts.

The story reportedly revolves around time travel to the future, a definite departure from the original series’ recurring cyborgs traveling back in time. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be back in the role he made famous, proving that he’s not letting his age hold him back.

Megan Allison of Annapurna and David Ellison of Skydance will produce, while Dana Goldberg and Paul Schwake of Skydance will serve as executive producers. The Terminator reboot is slated to hit theaters July 2, 2015.

It will be difficult to top Terminator 2, though. We can only hope they succeed.