Until now, no single actor has played the Terminator franchise’s John Connor more than once. Edward Furlong originated the role in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, but the lofty likes of Christian Bale, Jason Clarke, and Nick Stahl stepped into the role in the franchise’s subsequent films. At the San Diego Comic Con, producer James Cameron has revealed that Tim Miller’s upcoming Terminator: Dark Fate will come full circle by reuniting Furlong with Linda Hamilton, who we already knew was reprising her role of Sarah Connor. Does this mean Danny Cooksey is also coming back? One can only dream.
This news gives even more weight to Miller’s recent comments about Dark Fate being a direct sequel to T2. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he said the film will deal directly with Sarah’s destruction of Cyberdyne Systems. “I honestly believe this would be the best version of the movie after the second one,” Miller said.
He added:
“The first two movies really deal with time as a loop, what’s happening is the same thing that happened before and everybody is fighting to ensure that happens again. And Jim [Cameron] had this lucky break that he only broke that rule at the end of Terminator 2 when Sarah destroys Cyberdyne, it’s the first thing that happened that hadn’t happened before, and so it was going to change the future—but no one knew how. And I don’t think the movies that came after it really explored that in a clean way like I believe we are, with true consequences, and it makes perfect sense for Sarah to be the one to face those consequences since they were her choices to begin with.”
Miller also confirmed that the film won’t cop out with a PG-13 rating. “The DNA of Terminator is an R-rated, fucking movie,” Miller said, which makes sense considering his history with the foul-mouthed Deadpool franchise.
The panel also featured some serious Terminator: Genisys shade, with producer David Ellison grimacing at the film and Cameron declaring that “there’s no Sarah except Linda Hamilton.” Sorry, Emilia Clarke!
Terminator: Dark Fate opens on November 1.
152 Comments
Nice try, Tim Miller! Thanks to Endgame, we know you can’t change the future! Stop giving humanity false hope!
I fully expect the T-800 to go back into the past to be with his true love, Sarah’s roommate, at the conclusion of the new film.
I’m happy so long as Rick Rossovich gets to say “Don’t make me bust you up man!” again.
Plays drumsticks with celery stalks.
Seriously? First they ruin it with the SJW agenda bullshit. Then they cast old 70 year old Sarah and Arnold that makes you sad to look at. And now they bring back the worst thing about T2. This is going to tank harder than the female Ghostbusters.
Does this mean I have to stop my worldwide rampage of killing yakuza and cartel members?
Nah, go nuts.
I mean….you can still do that if it makes you happy.
I keep telling you, those are just random Japanese and Latino people you’ve been killing. Please do more research if you insist on continuing.
But will there be a very, very luck rat that saves the day this time?
Only if they’re smart!
Well, not to be nit picky, but Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban did the can’t-change-the-future style time travel before Endgame and The Terminator did it before that. Terminator 2 just said “screw it” and made the past a changeable thing. I guess James Cameron was irked that Back to the Future killed T1 in the box office and decided to do whatever it takes going forward.
Everyone is always forgetting about the TV show, which wasn’t great but was better than any of the post-T2 movies.
Who could forget about Salute Your Shorts?
Donkey Lips would rather forget.
One too many awful waffles.
“Why don’t you swim in the lake?”“Because fish fart in it.”
I’m sending this to Telly Radgord right now. #YouBeFunny.
Never Forget
Wow, that’s a dumb scene. Not feeling that bad anymore about missing this series.
One scene. Really? It’s television. Cut it some slack.
You’re right, it’s unfair.*Goes and watches yet another scene using Johnny Cash’ “The Man Comes Around” in order to highlight how serious things are*Nope, I’m good.
Hey now, Summer Glau played a really convincing robot! So good, I’m convinced she wasn’t acting at all, I bet Glau is actually one of those Westworld fembots!
how have i never seen this? The guy pantomiming the plane crash…wow that was gold
I feel like things need to come full circle. We need to track down that actor and have him pantomime Cersei blowing up the Sept of Baelor.
This is a really good Mad TV sketch. I didn’t know it got good again that late in its run!
Loooool, having never seen a single frame of this show, I was on board…right up until it cut back to those guys describing 9/11 the way ten year olds would describe a Transformers battle. Priceless!
So frickin good
Wow, that is incredible. Its hard to get a big laugh out of me, but the 1 min mark of this video definitely got me.This is legendary. How have I never seen this before?!
I thought the Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles series was excellent & Thomas Dekker on the series might have been the best John Connor, and wasn’t even the show’s most outstanding performance, which was probably either Garrett Dillahunt or Summer Glau
Actually I thought it was pretty great. One of my favorites of that era of TV.
It was so good and I’m still pissed it ended that way. It was on the level of agents of shield to the mcu. I need to watch it again, I got the T2 itch.
I’m one of the few T3 defenders (I dislike T2 and appreciate that T3 tried to repair some of the damage and do something different), but I’ll also give some credit to the tv series for having some interesting characters from the future. Unfortunately, they acted like Sarah’s arc from the first film never happened and also had a rather boring John for most of the run.
Lena Headey? Summer Glau? More please. Show was good. Too bad we only ever got two seasons.
It’s the show that gave us the lead singer of Garbage playing a urinal. I still have to check that it happened and that I didn’t dream it.
She’s only happy when it rains, eh?
I love T2 ((it’s my favorite movie), and it pleases me no end to know that Furlong will reprise his role. I’d been pretty disappointed that he wasn’t in T3. Good for him, good for us! Oh, I’m also stoked that Cameron is getting this franchise back.
Furlong better show up on a fuckin motocross bike blasting You Could Be Mine
How many Edwards’ in a furlong?
A Kropog.
I didn’t come to the Terminator article for a Gilmore Girls reference but I’m glad I got one.
I’m a little embarrassed honestly, but I knew someone would get it.
Edward Furlong and Axl Rose are both wife beaters, so I guess at least that part would be fitting.
Around the time of the film’s release, I had seen the trailer on TV numerous times. But for some reason, I had thought that he was on a bicycle instead of something motorized – until I actually saw the movie. I guess at that age, I couldn’t relate to some little kid like me having access to something like that.
Just as long as the motorbike still has an infinite number of gears being changed in every scene
lol
You mean in the show, or in real life? I’m pretty sure that in real life he already does exactly that.
Furlong’s work in T2 is seriously underrated. It’s understandable, since all his co-leads are basically doing the best work of their careers, but without his performance to center the movie around, it would just be a more expensive remix of the first film.
Counterpoint: he’s a wooden, whiny presence that nearly torpedoes every scene he’s in.
Remember this is James Cameron we’re talking about, furlong and that ginger with the mullet were the ideal kids in his eyes
Look, I get that, according to your rank, your own childhood was back in the days before indoor plumbing or whatever, but Furlong in T2 was a spot-on “juvie menace” 11 year old circa 1992, whether you like it or not.
Counterpoint: I saw it in the theater the weekend it opened and thought he was a wooden twerp, and in the dozens of times I’ve watched it since, he’s STILL a wooden twerp. Definitely the worst thing about one of the best movies of all time (runner up: rear projection on those future scenes).
Furlong’s performance is obviously bad. Some people just thrive on “re-evaluating” shit for no reason
“re-evaluating”Nah, it’s how I’ve felt since seeing it on opening day a quarter century ago.
Wow, you’re claiming people are expressing opinions just for the sake of being contrary?You must see a lot of black kettles around the place.
He was a little shit, as many boys that age are. It was refreshing to see john Connor be as ass and not a saint.
LOL, wrong
Oh noes, squamate LOLed at me! Whatever will I do?
Spot on or not, that doesn’t make his character enjoyable. It is a real buzz kill for the movie. All he is is a delivery system for Arnolds jokes. I don’t blame Furlong for any of that, but if you’re gonna commend him for playing a good role, please move your attention to American History X and (checks IMDB… scrolls, scrolls…) well, American History X.
13 year old me wants to fight you over this.
Correct
My only disagreement is that I think he actually does torpedo those scenes. Terminator movies should not be kids movies.
I wanted the machines to win in T2, just so they’d kill that annoying, snot-nosed little punk.
This!! He ruins the entire movie for me. I’m not saying it’s his acting, but the character itself is just horrid.
LMAO
I think he’s underrated because his characters are just not that likeable, and very reminiscent of real teenagers who I would cross the street to avoid. But you can’t deny how effective he is in T2 and American History X. He’s a young actor believably interacting with skinheads and robots from the future. I don’t get why his career nosedived after American History X. I guess the usual reason of not growing into a castable adult.
I thought he did a good job in T2—I agree with you that his character is not supposed to be likable—but I was really impressed with him in American History X. I went into it, of course, expecting good work from Edward Norton, but Furlong pleasantly surprised me. I think Furlong’s issues in Hollywood have less to do with his acting and more to do with mental health issues stemming from his dysfunctional childhood and his substance abuse.
American History X has career best performances from almost everyone involved, including Elliot Gould, who must have made 20 movies at that point. The movie is a total home run and seems to have had no effect at all; nothing like it was made again and the director seems to have barely worked since….before I finished this comment I looked up the movie on IMDB. The director hated the final cut and tried to take his name off (even suing to do so). It was his first feature!
Huh that’s interesting. I was a kid when it came out so only watched it for the first time about 5 years ago during an Edward Norton kick I was on. I knew going into it that it would be intense, but I still wasn’t prepared for how disturbing and affecting it would be.
Thanks for mentioning the behind-the-scenes drama. Am reading about that now, and yeah, that escalated quickly. . . .
Yeah, he was the worst thing about T2. I didn’t even think people would debate that.
Say what? The worst thing about T2 is “Now I know why you cry.”Bro, do you even James Cameron?!
I mean, I’d take that over the squeaky voiced bit about how if you wanna “shine ’em on,” you use “hasta la vista, baby.”
I’d argue the worst part of T2, and especially egregious considering the ground-breaking SFX, was when T1000 latches onto the back of the cop car driven by our three protagonists as they escape the asylum. There’s a shot that looks like they simply stapled an empty police uniform to the back of the cop car. It’s flapping around like a flag.
I go back and forth on that scene. Sometimes it’s as you say. Other times, I’m just glad Cameron accounted for momentum.
Unfortunately finding “mistakes” in movies you love is the downside of watching 20+ times.
Nah, not even close. I adore that flick, but the overhead shot of the semi crashing into the bridge divider where it looks like they didn’t even bother putting a dummy in the driver seat for the T-1000 and it’s just clearly empty was I thought way more obvious.
His voice breaking in every scene was especially realistic.
He was going through puberty during the making of T2. Voice was changing the entire film. They had to keep adjusting mic levels to keep him in range. The scene with the two body builders is where it really starts shifting hard. Every time he speaks loud or yells, it breaks. I think it worked for the character.
It worked perfectly. And my voice was going through the same thing when the movie came out.
After T2 and American History X I expected him to have a Leo type career. Shows what I know.
So that’s gonna be his most high-profile role in, like, 20 years. Good for him.
It’s hard to go anywhere but down when you start out with a central role in a blockbuster that wound up being one the best of its decade.In checking his IMDB, I was impressed to see that he’s grinding out a very ordinary career an actor (and not just living off the avails of his childhood hit, McCaulay Culkin style). He had a recurring role on CSI: NY, which would’ve been a fairly big deal at the time. His resume is surprisingly comparable to that of Jonathan Lipnicki. Except that Furlong’s apparently had some substance abuse problems and had a stint in prison. Being a childhood star is ruinous. I’d be happy for him if this movie helps him get back on his feet.
IIRC he was already kind of fucked up before he was in T2. shitty family background.
I wish him well Glad that he is returning.
Tween me is fucking stoked.
I’m assuming it’ll be a five minute scene where he gets killed and that’s why a Terminator is now hunting this new woman, who is now the key to salvation. High profile, but basically a cameo.
“Come with me if you want a paycheck.”
I honestly assumed he was dead or in jail…
And after all these years, he’s still got it! “It” being a face that you instantly want to punch.
Good job, Hollywood. Now cast Jake Lloyd in a Star War.
What about Harold Lloyd?
What about Harold Zoid?
WHY NOT ZOIDBERG?
What about Lloyd Christmas?
He’s got worms.
(Cut to: Harold Lloyd hanging from the gun underneath the Millennium Falcon by one hand as his straw-boater nearly falls off his head)
Cast him in a prequel to Episode 1 as some creep who’s bragging to his friends about slipping a space-roofie to a Tatooine slave girl and gets killed by the villain within 5 minutes of his appearance.
Seriously? First they ruin it with the SJW agenda bullshit. Then they cast old 70 year old Sarah and Arnold that makes you sad to look at. And now they bring back the worst thing about T2. This is going to tank harder than the female Ghostbusters.
Should’ve gotten Sean Young back for Blade Runner 2049 too. The real one.
They did.
That was CG.
They brought her in for reference. Flesh and blood Sean Young was involved in the production, they just had to Gollumize her.
And thank goodness for that!
Worst part of the movie. Completely distracting. Why not just have them make an age-appropriate clone for Deckard and use regular modern-day Sean Young?
I’m pretty sure they offered but were turned down, she kind of insulted it (if I remember correctly)
Uh?Young reprised her 1982 role of Rachael for Blade Runner 2049 (2017), portraying both the original (using archival footage from the first film) and a brand new cloned version of the character. This was achieved through the use of CGI facial de-aging to match her 1982 appearance, as well as the use of another actress as a body double. Sean Young was also credited in the new film as acting coach to the actress portraying her character.
A CGI face and body double.So if I replace the head of my broom and then the handle of my broom…
They used her as a reference, and she’s credited as an actor in the film, but what you see in the movie (outside of the archival footage) is not her. It’s a body-double (Loren Peta), with a hand-animated CGI facial performance (“We captured both actresses [Loren and Sean] doing the scene in a controlled facial capture environment, but, in the end, because we wanted to tell this story with subtle changes, we ended up hand-animating the whole thing”), and an uncredited “soundalike” actress for the voice.I think it’s a bit misleading of Wikipedia to call it “de-aging” (I think of that as manipulating footage of the older actor to replace them with a younger version of themselves while still essentially keeping their performance, not something created from scratch), but I suppose the term has been used in its sources.
I have been burned too many times before, with each sequel somehow being shittier than the last. T3 was always going to pale in comparison to T2, but it looks like the fucking Godfather compared to Salvation, and I never bothered to see Genisys because I watched the trailer. Didn’t Cameron say all this same shit about Genisys before it came out? Didn’t different directors and executives say this same shit about literally every movie post-T2? Miller is a fine director, so I’m sure it’ll have some decent action, but it’s hard to muster up even the slightest bit of hope. I see that even Genisys made a shit-ton of money internationally, so I understand why they’re making these, but it’s all just very sad.Oh, but good for Furlong. He’s had a tough go of it, so I hope it all works out for him.
You can say the exact same thing about the Alien franchise post-Aliens and it would be equally correct. They’ve generally sucked, even when Ridley Scott got involved again. I have zero expectations for this new Terminator film but if it’s actually good, I’ll see it (and I agree, Terminator 3 is bad but leaps and bounds better than the sequels that came after it).
Genisys was produced before Cameron regained the rights for the franchise. He did send out a glowing statement about how great the movie was before it released and then reneged after, saying he only praised it as a favor to Arnie. He hasn’t been involved in a Terminator production to this extent since T2, although that’s not necessarily a guarantee of quality.https://deadline.com/2017/01/terminator-james-cameron-deadpool-tim-miller-david-ellison-skydance-1201890848/https://www.screendaily.com/news/james-cameron-plans-to-produce-three-new-terminator-films/5120302.article
I know I’m in the minority, but I still think T3 is a damn decent movie. Like you said, it was always going to pale in comparison to T2, but it’s miles better than the crap that followed. I thought Nick Stahl was a good John Connor, Schwarzenegger was still on point, the T-X was awesome, and it has some really memorable scenes (the crane chase scene is still amazing, the gun stash in Sarah’s casket, etc.).
da fuh? Will he also be reforming Nirvana?
Hello, I’ve waited here for you
Ed Furlong
Amazing
Furlong did not “originate the role”, as stated in the article. We briefly see the character in flashback (flashforward?) in the first film.
I don’t think we do. My understanding is that the future/adult version of John only appears at the beginning of T2.
Only in the extended version, as far as I know.
i know complaining about the copy-editing around here is a lost cause but doesn’t the comma placement in
“The DNA of Terminator is an R-rated, fucking movie,” Miller said
indicate they’ve decided to make this Terminator film a hardcore porn with like, scat and donkey fucking and shit?
i guess a super-ripped robot is kinda perfect for the sybian fetishists but i’m not sure it’s what everyone wants to see.
YOU SPEAK FOR YOURSELF!
No, it’s R-rated, so softcore. You know, boobs, butts, a little bush. But R-rated fucking is just simulated fucking, or donkey fucking but off-screen. No poop.
We finally will get to see how detailed his files on human anatomy really are.
“Tim Miller’s upcoming Terminator: Dark Fate will come full circle by reuniting Furlong with Linda Hamilton”
Wouldn’t full circle be Hamilton reuniting with Michael Biehn? Or Paul Winfield?
For some reason I thought he was dead.
Only his career is. Or was, apparently…
Ok, confession time. I thought he had died young. Glad to know he’s still kicking around.
Same here. I think I was mixing him up with Brad Renfro.
That’s who – yes!!
Ok, confession time. I thought he had died young. Glad to know he’s still kicking around. I share your confoundment with a different person.I recently just found out Jessie from Saved by the Bell and Showgirls was not, in fact, dead.It’s apparently been a good week for 90’s D-list actors.
Thanks Tim, but didn’t t3 touch on that time loop and decide that what they did in t2 didn’t matter?
Yes. It basically said “Yeah, you delayed it but it’s still gonna happen because you humans are REALLY into making AI robots to kill you” so everything they did in T2 was pointless and the end was inevitable. This movie seems like it’s kinda saying the same thing? Besides, it IS inevitable because without the war, there is not JOHN CONNOR THE SAVIOR to send Kyle Reece back to bang his mom to make him. That may be stupid, but that’s the logic they’ve been using thus far.
So what about Earl Boen?
“There’s no Sarah except Linda Hamilton.”Let’s give credit where credit is due – Lena Headey was a pretty awesome Sarah Connor. But I suppose the statement is true if we’re not counting the TV show.
Ed Furlong & Nick Stahl… such great young talent spending so much time (apparently) face down in their own problems… It ain’t easy being John Connor.
There is no fate but what they make.
Then one of the older John Connors needs to go back in time and slap the meth pipe out of Nick Stahl’s mouth.
Stahl was damn good in Carnivale. Still pissed that show never concluded.
“In March 2013, Furlong was sentenced to 180 days in jail for a violation of probation after he “used force” against ex-girlfriend Monica Keena, and for violation of a protective order prohibiting contact with Keena.[21]Furlong was arrested again in May 2013 and avoided a further prison sentence after agreeing to go to rehab for drug addiction for 90 days, and to undergo 52 weeks of domestic violence counselling. He had already served 61 days in jail.[22]”Boy, it sure is crazy how allegations of abusing women ruins men’s careers, huh?
But with a beer gut.
Whoa, Jake Lloydtar Wars: The Kenobi Chronicles
In the original ending to T2, John is living with his mom in a one bedroom in Silver Lake. Once he makes sure that she’s taken her meds and all the guns are locked up, he decides to hit up the arcade and unwind (interestingly, he is no longer into shooter games; preferring the more innocuous games like Pac Man and Tetris). There, he finds out that Budnick has been waiting for John ever since the T-1000 literally shoved him out of existence. “You okay, man?” Budnick asks cautiously. “Whatever,” John replies, grinning. “Easy money.”They execute a complicated high-five routine as we…FADE TO BLACK.
If I’ve learned anything from all of these late sequels is that the only way women over 35 can get roles in Hollywood is to be British or to star in the original movie when you’re under 35 and wait until they realize they can’t recast you.
You forgot being Meryl Streep. So many women actors make the mistake of not being Meryl Streep.
Some of the men, too.Ol’ Furlong here comes to mind.
Edward Furlong originated the role in Terminator 2: Judgement Day
I could be misremembering, but didn’t John Connor show up for a few seconds in the original played by a random dude with no lines? Or was that in T2?
This has all somehow made me excited to see this movie. Mainly for Linda Hamilton of course, but the story idea sounds reasonable.
I don’t understand, I thought T3 was pretty rad, great natural…real…what do they call FX again when they’re not CGI, puppets! right, I’d forgot.Cool to bring Furlong back but the whole better-than-thou is silly just in another way, lots of franchises have had shit chapters they didn’t ignore. Lena Headey was a fine Sarah Connor.Nick Stahl was in about 10 things I never heard of after Sin City…then nothing…now he has like six projects coming out this year…did he have a kid or something?
Nick Stahl was in about 10 things I never heard of after Sin City…then nothing…now he has like six projects coming out this year…did he have a kid or something? Sometimes rehab takes time.And from eyeing his IMDB, none of it seems to be anything really impactful. There’s a project involving the OJ Simpson murder, and a bunch of other titles that seem very Hallmark Movie of the Week-y.
the OJ Simpson one looks really really questionable…it’s sad Mena Suvari and him are reduced to that. Taryn Manning also, who seemed like Pennsatucky would lead to a lot, but not only has it not they often have no idea what to do with her on the show for seasons at a time. Mena Suvari was never a bad actress, and she’s aging beautifully…sad to see her in this exploitative shit.
I really home Danny Cooksey makes his return! He’s had a pretty successful run in show business. Movies, TV, and video games. He needs to come back to the Terminator franchise, mullet and all.
So, I’m the only one who can literally see the greenish brown waves of stench coming off of Furlong’s oily, greasy unwashed hair, BO and bad breath?So repulsive.