Terminator: Dark Fate Confirmed to Be Rated R by James Cameron

The Terminator franchise is heading back to its roots with the upcoming reboot/sequel, Terminator: Dark Fate. James Cameron is returning as a producer, Arnold Schwarzenegger is once again appearing in the franchise, and Linda Hamilton is reprising her role as Sarah Connor for the first time since Terminator 2: Judgement Day in 1991. Well, it looks as though the film is taking the connections to the heyday of the Terminator franchise as well. Just after the release of the first trailer for Dark Fate, Cameron confirmed that the new movie would be rated R.

There have been five films so far in the Terminator series, with the first three all earning R ratings. However, Terminator: Salvation made the switch to PG-13 in 2009 to try and reach a wider audience. Terminator: Genisys took the same approach in 2015. Neither of those movies were very successful, so Cameron and director Tim Miller decided to essentially retcon most of the series, essentially making Dark Fate a sequel to Judgement Day.

Keeping with the styles and traditions of the first two movies, Dark Fate will indeed mimic its R-rated tone. Flicks and the City posted an interview with Cameron this week where the producer confirmed that the new movie aimed for an R rating. Their video has since been deleted, but TheTerminatorFans.com was able to transcribe the quote while it was still available.

“I think, tonally, what makes this a direct sequel to T1 and T2 is as much about the tone as it is about the narrative: it’s R rated, it’s grim, it’s gritty, it’s fast, it’s intense, it’s linear,” Cameron says. “The whole story takes place in 36 hours. It’s not this kind of grandiose, complex story. It’s just very focused on the characters, it’s very now, it’s very present and it’s just a fast white-knuckle ride.”

Cameron goes in on the same point a few minutes later, when he swears during the interview but brushes it off by saying, “Hey, it’s gonna be an R-rated movie, so I can swear.”

With the return to an R rating, the hope is that Dark Fate can also return to Terminator franchise to the heights of its glory days. Whether or not it will accomplish that remains to be seen.

Terminator: Dark Fate is set to hit theaters on November 1st.