Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Terminator: Dark Fate is an upcoming American science fiction action film directed by Tim Miller, featuring a script of James Cameron, Charles Eglee, Josh Friedman, Goyer and Rhodes by David S. Goyer, Justin Rhodes and Billy Ray. Cameron and David Ellison are the producers of the film. It will be the sixth film in the Terminator franchise and the first to feature series creator James Cameron since Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).
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Cameron sees the film as a direct sequel to his films The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, while Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009), Terminator Genisys (2015) and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008–2009) are described as alternating timelines. The movie stars Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Edward Furlong returning to Sarah Connor, the "Terminator" T-800, and John Connor, respectively, after 28 years of reuniting. Also the movie stars as new characters are Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna and Diego Boneta.
Distributed in North America by Paramount Pictures, in China by Tencent Pictures and in other territories by 20th Century Fox, the film is scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States on November 1, 2019.
About The Terminator: Dark Fate
Directed by: Tim Miller
Produced by: James Cameron and David Ellison
Screenplay by: David S. Goyer, Justin Rhodes and Billy Ray
Story by: James Cameron, Charles Eglee, Josh Friedman, David S. Goyer and Justin Rhodes
Based on: Characters by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd
Starring: Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, Diego Boneta and Edward Furlong
Music by: Junkie XL
Cinematography: Ken Seng
Edited by: Julian Clarke
Production company: Paramount Pictures, Skydance Media, 20th Century Fox, Tencent Pictures and Lightstorm Entertainment
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures (North America), Tencent Pictures (China) and 20th Century Fox (International)
Release date: October 23, 2019 (United Kingdom) and November 1, 2019 (United States)
Running time: 128 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Budge: $160–200 million.
Premise
Twenty-seven years after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Skynet will send a new, altered liquid metal terminator (Gabriel Luna) to destroy Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes), a hybrid cyborg human (Mackenzie Davis) and her mates from the future. Sarah Connor comes to their aid for a fight for the future, as well as the original Terminator.
Later, director Tim Miller said the character of Luna "comes from something that is not Skynet, but it's like Skynet.
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Cast
- Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor: The mother of John Connor, the future leader of the Human Resistance in the war against the machines (Skynet). Sarah hunts and kills Terminators to prevent Judgment Day and forestall the coming conflict.[10] Due to her previous encounters with other T-800 Terminator models, she is at odds with Carl.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as T-800 "Model 101" / Carl: An aging Terminator, one of several sent back in time to kill John Connor in the past. Having abandoned its mission and living in seclusion, it gained autonomy from its original programming and integrates into human society, and is recruited by Sarah and Grace to help protect Dani Ramos.
- Brett Azar serves as a body double for the young T-800, while CGI will be applied to recreate Schwarzenegger's facial likeness from the 1990s in flashback scenes.
- Mackenzie Davis as Grace: A soldier-assassin who was converted into a cyborg and sent from the future to protect Dani Ramos from the new advanced Terminator prototype.
- Natalia Reyes as Daniella "Dani" Ramos: A young woman targeted for termination by the new advanced Terminator prototype Rev-9.
- Gabriel Luna as Rev-9: An advanced Terminator prototype sent back in time to terminate Dani. While he has a traditional solid endoskeleton covered with a "mimetic polyalloy", similarly to the T-X from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Rev-9 also possesses the ability to separate these two components into two separate, fully autonomous Terminator units.
- Diego Boneta as Miguel Ramos: Dani's older brother.
- Edward Furlong as John Connor: The son of Sarah Connor. He is portrayed as a messianic figure who was destined to save the remnants of mankind after Judgment Day by becoming the leader of the Human Resistance against Skynet.
- Jude Collie serves as a body double for young John Connor, while CGI will be applied to recreate Furlong's facial likeness from the 1990s in flashback scenes.
- Steven Cree
- Enrique Arce as Mr. Ramos: The father of Dani and Miguel.
- Despite rumors that Michael Biehn would be reprising his role as Kyle Reese from The Terminator and the Special Edition version of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Biehn confirmed in an interview that he will not be in the film.
Development
The Hollywood Reporter announced in December 2013 that there was a television series in the works that would be related to a new Terminator trilogy. On September 5, 2014, Paramount announced that Terminator Genisys (2015) will be the first film to be released on May 19, 2017 and June 29, 2018 in a new standalone trilogy. Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on February 24, 2015 that he would return to his role as the T-800 for the first sequel. Skydance Media CEO David Ellison and COO Dana Goldberg said the spin-off TV series was still in production when presenting Genisys in Berlin in June 2015. A month later, Paramount and Skydance declined to comment on the status of the sequel and television series, although they indicated that consideration would be given to international box office success. As of September 2015, to fast-track a sequel, Terminator Genisys had failed to earn the $150 million needed in China.
The Hollywood Reporter said on October 1, 2015 that the sequels and spin-off on television were on hold indefinitely because Terminator Genisys had failed to break even. Goldberg said on October 6 that she "wouldn't tell on hold as much as it would re-adjust." According to Goldberg, the company was satisfied with its worldwide figures despite Genisys ' poor domestic results and still intended to make new films and the TV series. Production of a sequel would start no earlier than 2016 because after Genisys the company planned market research to determine its direction.
Paramount announced in January 2016 that the sequel was dropped from its release schedule for 2017. Emilia Clarke, who played Sarah Connor in Terminator Genisys in April 2016, said she was not going to return for any sequels. Ellison thought that Terminator Genisys might have been better, so he hired James Cameron, the franchise maker, to make the following movie with him in hopes of creating a better film. Cameron was intrigued by Ellison's proposal to make the film a direct sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day, ignoring the events of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009) and Terminator Genisys. Cameron decided to make the film on the condition of including Schwarzenegger in it. Cameron has been involved in pre-production and script work as a director.
Cameron had been involved with the project since January 2017, and Ellison was looking for a writer among writers of science fiction with the intention of being guided by Tim Miller. Reportedly the film was a remake, implying that the plot of Terminator Genisys had been scrapped. In March 2017, as the sequel to Genisys had been dropped from the studio's release schedule, the studio had opted not to continue using Schwarzenegger and Clarke.
Ellison said later in the month that there would be an announcement about the future of the franchise before the end of the year, and that it would be in a direction that would "continue what the fans always wanted since T2." In April 2017, Schwarzenegger said he was looking forward to being in another Terminator movie, and talks are taking place for another studio to pick up the franchise from producing Paramount and Cameron.
Cameron said he was partnering with Ellison in July 2017 to set up and direct a film trilogy. The aim is to involve Schwarzenegger to some degree, but also to introduce new characters and "pass the baton." Later on, Schwarzenegger was confirmed to take up his role.
Pre-production
Skydance Media announced on September 12, 2017 that Miller will be directing the new Terminator movie, which was originally scheduled to be released on July 26, 2019. Miller, Cameron, and Ellison drafted and conceived the plot of the film. A team of writers–David S. Goyer, Justin Rhodes, and Josh Friedman (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles television series creator)–were hired to write the script. Cameron and the writers watched the Terminator sequels that followed his initial films, and it was determined that when it came to time travel, the storylines of the later films were too complex. Working on the plot, which was ultimately conceived as a new Terminator film trilogy, was spent months. Billy Ray was brought in by November 2017 to polish the script. By January 2018, Goyer revealed that he had completed a draft of his script. When shooting began to approach, Cameron realized the script had to be changed and made the changes himself.
Miller said that the destruction of Cyberdyne at the end of Terminator 2: Judgment Day is an occurrence that would change the future "but nobody knew why. And I don't think the movies that came after it ever addressed that in a clean way as I think we are, with real consequences, and it makes perfect sense for Sarah to be the one to face those consequences as they were her decisions to begin off. Among the novelists was Joe Abercrombie, who suggested the idea of a half-human and half-machine female character forming the basis of the Grace character. Linda Hamilton was satisfied with the characters of the movie and regretted the lack of characters from earlier sequels to Terminator 2 that the audience should care about.
The writing credits of the film, as recognized by the American Writers Guild, are screenplays by David S. Goyer & Justin Rhodes and Billy Ray; stories by James Cameron & Charles H. Eglee & Josh Friedman and Goyer & Rhodes.
Casting
Schwarzenegger confirmed in May 2017 that he would appear in the next Terminator movie, with Cameron supervising the production. It was announced that Hamilton would return to reprise her role as Sarah Connor in September of the same year. Because previous Terminator films did not do audiences well, Miller felt it was necessary for Hamilton to take over the role. Cameron, Ellison and Miller wanted to bring back the character of the Sarah Connor only if Hamilton were to take over the role. The plot of the film was first designed to give the trio an idea to propose to Hamilton. Cameron said he sent Hamilton a "long rambling email with many reasons why she should do it and many reasons why she shouldn't." Cameron's main reason why Hamilton should come back was because people liked her in the role. There has never been a version of the movie that included Hamilton, and Miller said that if she declined the part, there was no backup plan.
Hamilton chose to sign on to the project after about six months, which had not yet produced a script for her to read because it was still being developed. At first, Hamilton wasn't sure if she wanted to take over the role, saying, "I didn't want it to seem like a blatant money grab. I'm living this peaceful, beautiful life that doesn't involve being a star, and you really have to wonder, do I really want to trade it in again for another 15 minutes?" Because so much time had gone by since her appearance as Sarah Connor in 1991, Hamilton had thought she would never take over the role, and she was shocked by the offer to do so. Hamilton said of her decision to return, "I was very happy that all the years had gone by because I could fill the years up with so much history and inner life that could fuel the character." Hamilton spent more than a year working with a fitness trainer to get the part in physical shape. Hamilton said she put in her physique ten times as much effort as she did for Terminator 2. This included a diet and bioidentical hormone therapy, as well as Green Berets practice. Commenting on the part of Hamilton, Cameron said he liked a 62-year-old actress ' concept of an action film.
The production also sought to cast an 18-to-20-year-old woman as the story's main centerpiece. Hamilton rehearsed lines with several actresses listening for Dani's part, and she immediately felt Natalia Reyes was the right choice. It was revealed in March 2018 that Mackenzie Davis was cast in the film. Miller said of Davis, "I not only wanted a woman who could suit the role physically, but also emotionally. Mackenzie really wanted to do it; after the role, she came. She worked harder than anyone. "She began physical training for the fighting scenes of the film after Davis was cast. Schwarzenegger and Gabriel Luna also underwent physical training for the film.
Because the movie is partially set in Mexico City, there are several Latino actors in the cast, including Reyes, Luna, and Diego Boneta, who were cast as primary characters in April 2018. Reyes said, "This film is now a reflection of Hollywood. We're just changing these stereotypes and the ideas and cliches of what a Latino should be." By June 2018, Jude Collie was cast as the double for a young John Connor, with Brett Azar reproducing his role from Genisys as the double body for a younger T-800. On July 18, 2019, Cameron announced that Edward Furlong will take over his role as John Connor from Terminator 2: Judgment Day during a panel for the film at San Diego Comic-Con. Furlong later announced that he had a small role in the movie.
Filming
Production was originally planned to begin in March 2018, however due to casting it was postponed. It was then expected to begin in May and finish in November with shooting taking place in Hungary, UK, Spain and Mexico. The release date of the film was delayed until November 2019 in April 2018. Filming started on June 4, 2018 in Isleta del Moro, Almería, Spain, under the working title Terminator 6: Phoenix. Many filming locations in Spain included the Pueblo Neuvo and Lavapiés areas in Madrid, which served as Mexican settlements. The film crew repainted cars to look like taxis for these scenes and also left old vehicles on the roads to represent abandonment. For budgetary reasons and security concerns regarding drug cartels in Mexico, the Mexican scenes were shot in Spain. Luna coached several actors during filming in Spain on how to speak Spanish with a Mexican accent.
Filming then moved to the Origo Film Studios in Budapest, Hungary, with the intention of shooting there for a month before filming the rest of the film in the U.S. The largest set piece of the film was created in Budapest by special effects supervisor Neil Corbould: the fuselage of a Lockheed C-5 Galaxy plane. The set was built on the largest ever built 85-ton gimbal. The set was able to rotate 360 degrees, and at 10 degrees could tilt back and forth. The collection was operated by five hydraulic pumps of 200 liters per minute, as well as hydraulic hoses of more than a mile and a half. To fit the large set, which took five months to build, a pit had to be built into the concrete floor of the sound stage. The set allowed members of the camera crew to strap inside. With actors filming scenes inside it, the plane set was padded. Also inside the plane set with the actors are plastic replicas of military vehicles. Schwarzenegger started filming scenes in Budapest at the end of July 2018. In mid-October, filming moved to the U.S. On October 28, 2018, Schwarzenegger finished filming. In early November 2018, shooting wrapped up.
The film will be rated R, like Cameron's initial Terminator films, while the previous two films have been ratedPG-13. Miller said the movie would be rated R because "the fans somehow requested it," adding that "Terminator's DNA" is a R-rated film and that "not to do it R seems untrue to the source material." Originally, there were two different ways of shooting those scenes: with and without R-rated violence and language. It offered the filmmakers an option in case it was appropriate to rethink the intended rating of the movie. Following a definitive decision on an R-rated film, the filmmakers eventually abandoned this method. Cameron, explaining the decision, said that "we've just finally said, ' To hell with this, it's a waste of time.'"
Cameron made additional changes to the script during shooting to refine the characters. In some situations, just one day before filming the scene, Cameron's script revisions were sent to Miller. For Sarah Connor, Hamilton rejected certain lines of dialog that she felt were uncharacteristic. Cameron did not visit the set as he was busy filming his Avatar sequels, but he provided input on the movie cut by Miller's director. Plans were made to extend the role of Luna with upcoming reshoots in July 2019.
Post-production
The working title of the film was Terminator: Dark Destiny, according to Cameron in February 2019. This was announced the following month to be the official title of the film.
Visual effects
The visual effects were provided by Industrial Light & Magic and Scanline VFX, with the assistance of Blur Studio, Digital Domain, Method Studios, Unit Image, Rebellion VFX, The Third Floor, Inc. and Cantina Creative, supervised by Alex Wang, David Seager, Arek Komorowski and Eric Barba. The film is made up of 2,600 shots of visual effects and was filmed using Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects.
Music
Junkie XL was confirmed to compose the score for the film in March 2019.
Release
Paramount Pictures in North America, Tencent Pictures in China, 20th Century Fox outside North America and Asia, and UK cinemas are scheduled to release the film on November 1, 2019. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema hosted surprise film screenings at 15 theaters on October 19, 2019, disguised as Terminator 2: Judgment Day screenings.
Box office
Terminator: Dark Fate will be released in the United States and Canada along with Harriet, Arctic Dogs, and Motherless Brooklyn, and is projected to be roughly $40 million in its opening weekend.
Conclusion
Sarah Connor and a hybrid cyborg human must protect a young girl from a newly modified liquid Terminator from the future.
