Terminator: Dark Fate - There's No Fate But What We Make For Ourselves (UK Exclusive Feature)
Feature by Jack Foley
WITH James Cameron back on board and Dark Fate sealed, the future for the Terminator series is packed with possibility. In this UK exclusive special feature, we find out why…
“Terminator 1 and 2 hold a very special place in cinematic history,” says producer David Ellison. “[That’s why] we wanted Dark Fate to be a direct sequel to T2 and a continuation of Jim’s vision for the franchise.” And that vision could stretch beyond this movie, too…
“While we wanted to continue that story, we also wanted to build a path for an entirely new generation of characters, which is where Natalia [Reyes] and Mackenzie [Davis] come into the picture.”
An extensive search for the right actors to four contenders auditioning for the part of Dani Ramos, but it was Reyes who wowed director Tim Miller in a reading with star Linda Hamilton.
“When she read with Linda, Natalia just started crying,” says Miller. “You could just tell that emotionally she was already there. Then Natalia does the scene with Linda and she gets up and walks out of the room. Linda goes, ‘Do I get a vote? If I do, she’s the one. Bingo!’ It was because she’s just so good. She was so present.”
In Dark Fate, Davis has a unique challenge, too – to play a character who is part machine and part human. “Mackenzie has a real presence to her. She’s really interesting-looking without being too overtly ‘beautiful’ and she has such a strength to her,” says Miller of the actress who has sci-fi pedigree from Blade Runner 2049 and the acclaimed short, Memory Box.
Audiences will have to wait and see in Dark Fate whether these characters can return, but the filmmakers have already worked out where the Terminator series can travel to in the future.
“In the writers’ room, with Jim, we basically crafted the story for two more pictures after this,” says Ellison. “So, we know where we’re going. I hope that the audience embraces this and that we can tell those stories.”
For director Tim Miller, he feels happy, because he feels he //is// the audience. “I will say that if there’s one thing that I believe in, it’s that I’m a nerd. I read comic books and sci-fi all the time and I feel like I can come to these things as I would if I was a fan reading about it. I can feel the same thing. If this was
Terminator 6, as a fan I would say, ‘What are they making Terminator 6 for?’
But this isn’t Terminator 6. This is the real T3. And I love this movie. I love the first two and I want to see the finish of Sarah’s story.” The only question is: is Dark Fate the end of Sarah’s story, or does she have more chapters to tell?
There’s only one way to find out – go and see the movie when it opens in UK cinemas.
Read our Out of the Past. Into The Future special feature
Terminator: Dark Fate is in UK cinemas now.