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Movies & TV

20th Dec 2022

James Cameron confirms he is in discussions to relaunch the Terminator franchise

Stephen Porzio

The filmmaker’s comments have led some to wonder if he would direct a Terminator reboot.

Legendary filmmaker James Cameron has said he is in discussions to relaunch The Terminator franchise.

The director – best known for making the first two Terminator films, as well as Aliens, Titanic and Avatar – has been on a press tour to promote his latest blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water.

As part of this, he appeared on Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett’s podcast SmartLess where he was quizzed on his thoughts on artificial intelligence, given the villainous AI system Skynet that appears in the Terminator franchise.

“I’m certainly pretty concerned about the potential for misuse of AI. I think AI can be great. I also think it could literally be the end of the world,” Cameron said.

“The point is that no technology has ever not been weaponised and do we really want to be fighting something smarter than us that isn’t us on our own world? I don’t think so.

“I mean, look, an AI could have taken over the world and already be manipulating it and we just don’t know because it would have control over all the media and everything.”

Terminator

In a follow-up question, Cameron was asked if he feels a responsibility to have a social message in his movies.

He replied: “Well, the Avatar films are about the environment. I’m not dealing with AI.

“If I were to do another Terminator film and maybe try to launch that franchise again, which is in discussion but nothing has been decided, I would make it much more about the AI side of it than kind of bad robots gone crazy.”

Cameron only directed the first two entries in this sci-fi action series, which has already been rebooted a number of times.

However, on the franchise’s most recent entry – Terminator: Dark Fate – he was more actively involved, getting a writing credit on the movie, which wound up being a box office disappointment.

As such, Cameron’s comments could mean he is talks to either produce and help write a new Terminator movie or direct it himself.

If it is the latter, people may be waiting a long time for the reboot, as the filmmaker is planning to release at least three more Avatar films.