James Cameron is struggling to write a new Terminator film because we’re “living in a science fiction age” and he doesn’t want his ideas to be “overtaken by real events”
James Cameron is grappling to write a new Terminator movie, stating we’re “living in a science fiction age”.
The 71-year-old director, currently juggling the Avatar franchise, confirmed plans for another Terminator instalment last year. However, he’s finding it tough to “write science fiction right now”.
Speaking on CNN, he revealed: “I’m tasked with writing a new Terminator story. I’ve been unable to get started on that very far because I don’t know what to say that won’t be overtaken by real events. We are living in a science fiction age right now.”
Since its release in 1984, the original Terminator – starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton – has remained an iconic sci-fi classic.
In October 2024, Cameron hinted that the future of the franchise was in the works. He told Empire magazine: “It’s more than a plan. That’s what we’re doing. That’s all I’ll say for right now.”
Cameron – currently preoccupied with Avatar – stressed that the future of Terminator hinges on crafting innovative and varied narratives.
He explained: “You get too inside it, and then you lose a new audience because the new audience care much less about that stuff than you think they do. That’s the danger, obviously, with Avatar as well, but I think we’ve proven that we have something for new audiences.
“You’ve got powerless main characters, essentially, fighting for their lives, who get no support from existing power structures, and have to circumvent them but somehow maintain a moral compass. And then you throw AI into the mix.
“Those principles are sound principles for storytelling today, right? So I have no doubt that subsequent Terminator films will not only be possible, but they’ll kick a**. But this is the moment where you jettison all the specific iconography.”
Cameron has previously admitted that certain aspects of the Terminator franchise are “pretty cringeworthy”.
He stated: “I don’t think of it as some Holy Grail, that’s for sure. I look at it now and there are parts of it that are pretty cringeworthy, and parts of it that are like, ‘Yeah, we did pretty well for the resources we had available.'”.
He continued, “Just the production value, you know? I don’t cringe on any of the dialogue, but I have a lower cringe factor than, apparently, a lot of people do around the dialogue that I write.”
With a hint of confidence, he added, “You know what? Let me see your three-out-of-the-four-highest-grossing films – then we’ll talk about dialogue effectiveness.”
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