Arnold Schwarzenegger is saying hasta la vista, baby, to the “Terminator” movies.
After starring in almost all of the films in the franchise since the titular project in 1984, the actor, 78, won’t be returning for the next installment.
“I can safely say he won’t be [in it],” co-creator James Cameron told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s time for a new generation of characters. I insisted Arnold had to be involved in ‘Terminator: Dark Fate,’ and it was a great finish to him playing the T-800. There needs to be a broader interpretation of ‘Terminator’ and the idea of a time war and super intelligence. I want to do new stuff that people aren’t imagining.”
The filmmaker, 71, added that he’s looking forward to diving into the seventh film.
“Once the dust clears on ‘Avatar’ in a couple of months, I’m going to really plunge into that,” Cameron shared. “There are a lot of narrative problems to solve. The biggest is how do I stay enough ahead of what’s really happening to make it science fiction?”
“The things that scare you the most are exactly the things you should be doing,” Cameron continued. “Nobody should be operating artistically from a comfort zone.”
After the first movie, Schwarzenegger appeared in “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991), “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” (2003), “Terminator Genisys” (2015), and “Terminator: Dark Fate” in 2019.
While on “Watch What Happens Live” in June, the bodybuilder revealed which of the films is his least favorite.
“I would say the worst was probably the No. 4, because that was done during the time I was governor [of California] and I was not in it,” Schwarzenegger admitted. “How do you do a ‘Terminator’ movie without me being in the ‘Terminator’ movie? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Terminator Salvation” debuted in 2009 and starred Christian Bale.
During Cameron’s interview with THR, he also touched on the iconic “Avatar” franchise.
The director refuted Matt Damon’s claims that the actor was offered a role in the first sci-fi movie.
“He was never offered the part,” Cameron confessed. “I can’t remember if I sent him the script or not. I don’t think I did? Then we wound up on a call and he said, ‘I love to explore doing a movie with you. I have a lot of respect for you as a filmmaker. [‘Avatar’] sounds intriguing.’”
Damon, 55, has said on multiple occasions that he turned down an offer to take 10 percent of the gross profit from the 2009 project if he starred as Jake Sully. The role ultimately went to Sam Worthington.
From Cameron’s recollection, Damon turned down the idea of playing Jake immediately
“‘I really have to do this ‘Jason Bourne’ movie,’” he recounted the star saying. “‘I’ve agreed to it, it’s a direct conflict, and so, regretfully, I have to turn it down.’”
“He was never offered,” detailed Cameron. “There was never a deal. We never talked about the character. We never got to that level. It was simply an availability issue.”
He also slammed the notion of Damon taking 10 percent.
“If, in his mind, that’s what it would’ve taken for him to do ‘Avatar,’ then it wouldn’t have happened,” Cameron pressed. “Trust me on that.”
“Avatar” went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time, earning $2.9 billion worldwide.
Cameron, meanwhile, has nothing but respect for the Oscar winner.
“He felt compelled to call me personally and tell me; he said he didn’t want it to come from the agent — that’s an honorable guy,” he gushed. “So all respect to Matt. I’d love to work with him someday. But that never happened. It was a conflation of different things that were happening.”
