Linda Hamilton would be quite happy to never return to Terminator

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

SPOILERS for TERMINATOR: DARK FATE. The TERMINATOR franchise has attempted and failed to reboot itself several times over the course of its history, as both TERMINATOR: SALVATION and TERMINATOR: GENISYS were intended to launch new trilogies. When franchise creator James Cameron and Sarah Connor herself, Linda Hamilton, returned to the fold for TERMINATOR: DARK FATE, it was the hope that this third attempt would stick, but sadly, despite receiving the best reviews since TERMINATOR 2, the film bombed at the box-office and seems to have pulled the plug on the franchise yet again.

While speaking with THR, Linda Hamilton was asked whether she was optimistic about returning to play Sarah Connor in a new sequel.

No. Something says to me… I don’t know. I would really appreciate maybe a smaller version where so many millions are not at stake. Today’s audience is just so unpredictable. I can’t tell you how many laymen just go, “Well, people don’t go to the movies anymore.” That’s not Hollywood analysis; that just comes out of almost everybody’s mouth. It should definitely not be such a high-risk financial venture, but I would be quite happy to never return. So, no, I am not hopeful because I would really love to be done. But, if there were something new that really spoke to me, I am a logical person, and I will always consider viable changes.

Linda Hamilton never needed to return for TERMINATOR: DARK FATE, so I'm very thankful that James Cameron and Tim Miller were able to persuade her to reprise the role one last time. We all need more grizzled, bad-ass Sarah Connor in our lives.

Linda Hamilton also spoke of the controversial decision to kill off John Connor in the opening minutes of TERMINATOR: DARK FATE, which Hamilton believes was needed in order to light that fire in Sarah once again.

I don’t think Sarah and John would be there at all if they were still fine and strong. I thought it was a great leaping-off point for my character. To create a new fuel and fire for Sarah Connor, I thought it was a very good story point. I’m not one that clings to past ideas. Judgment Day is about John, but John wouldn’t exist without Sarah. Then, something else will happen, and Sarah will have to die. That is kind of the nature of life, and I would like that to be the nature of franchises where it’s not just the same story retold each time. I just think it’s much more interesting to launch from a new place.

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE is now available on Digital/DVD/Blu-ray/4K Ultra HD.