Linda Hamilton Returning To ‘Terminator’ Franchise To Reprise Role As Sarah Connor

After more than 25 years, Linda Hamilton will be returning to the Terminator universe, and appearing in the franchise’s upcoming film alongside its creator, James Cameron, and its iconic lead star, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the announcement was made by Cameron himself at a private event, as he confirmed Hamilton’s participation, over two decades and a half after she had last starred as Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Cameron, who will be co-producing the new Terminator film with Skydance, said that the move represents a “statement,” considering how Hamilton was, at that time, a rare example of a woman playing the male-dominated role of action star.

“As meaningful as she was to gender and action stars everywhere back then, it’s going to make a huge statement to have that seasoned warrior that she’s become return,” said Cameron.

The veteran director and producer also stated that the 60-year-old Linda Hamilton’s return to the Terminator franchise represents another big statement in the action film industry, which has seen older male actors play hard-hitting roles despite their advanced age, but no women doing the same.

“There are 50-year-old, 60-year-old guys out there killing bad guys, but there isn’t an example of that for women.”

Linda Hamilton returning to the #Terminator franchise after more than 25 years https://t.co/rw6OA8gY9c pic.twitter.com/r30RA7tVyd

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As further noted by the Hollywood Reporter, the new Terminator film will be helmed by Deadpool director Tim Miller, who, together with Cameron, had created a “writers’ room” to hash out ideas for what could potentially be a new trilogy, one whose films could serve as standalone movies, or possibly “form an overarching (new) story.”

The news of Linda Hamilton’s return to the Terminator series comes four months after Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played the titular character in four of the franchise’s five films, told Screen Daily that he and Cameron had been discussing the project and that he would be reprising his iconic role once again in the upcoming film.

Hamilton had first played Sarah Connor in 1984’s The Terminator, quickly establishing herself as one of the most formidable female leads in an action film. Seven years later, she and Schwarzenegger returned in Cameron’s sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a film that was produced with a much bigger budget, going on to become a certified summer hit and a box office record-breaker in 1991. The Hollywood Reporter recalled Hamilton as someone who played a “hard-edged, take-no-prisoners” warrior who was fiercely protective of her son and would-be human resistance leader, John Connor.

Although Arnold Schwarzenegger would also appear in 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and 2015’s Terminator Genisys, both Linda Hamilton and James Cameron sat those films out, as well as the 2009 sequel, Terminator Salvation, which was top-billed by Christian Bale as the adult John Connor.

Specific details on the new Terminator film’s story are still unknown at the moment, but Cameron and Miller are reportedly planning to make it a direct sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Cameron also noted that it will serve as a passing-of-the-torch moment from the older Sarah Connor character to a much younger woman, who will serve as the main female character in the new movie.

“We’re starting a search for an 18-something woman to be the new centerpiece of the new story. We still fold time. We will have characters from the future and the present. There will be mostly new characters, but we’ll have Arnold and Linda’s characters to anchor it.”

What are your thoughts on Linda Hamilton’s return to the Terminator franchise? Do you have any expectations on how she will be portraying Sarah Connor in the sixth film in the long-running action series?

[Featured Image by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]