Terminator

The original Sarah Connor has returned in the first set photos from ‘Terminator 6.’

Sarah Connor is coming back for the sixth ‘Terminator’ film, but don’t think too hard about the temporal paradoxes this will produce.

As expected, the Fourth of July holiday weekend saw a lot of people heading to the theater. Unfortunately for the new releases, those people gravitated toward films that have already been in theaters for a few weeks. Once again, Jurassic World and Inside Out dominated the top 10, leaving newcomers like Terminator Genisys and Magic Mike XXL out in the cold.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s return to the movies after his stint as governor of California has been filled with ups and downs, good films and bad. But one thing has remained consistent – the living legend has started showcasing a savvy online presence and a self-aware sense of humor that has re-endeared him to the digital world. Now, he’s combined all of that into a YouTube video that, while it exists solely to promote a charity, is more entertaining than any of the Terminator Genisys trailers so far.

The last Terminator Genisys trailer was so convoluted and confusing that ScreenCrush editor Mike Sampson and I spent an entire piece trying to figure out the plot of the film. (We were not successful, either.) At the very least, the new Genisys spot makes things a bit clearer. Right off the bat they also reveal one significant plot twist: John Connor (Jason Clarke) has been mechanized by Skynet and the evil computers of the future, and sent back in time to kill his mother Sarah (Emilia Clarke). Also, I just realized that Sarah and John Connor are played in this film by two actors with the same last name. Which, whoa. And, of course, there’s also Arnold Schwarzenegger back as the T-800, but this time he’s an older model who’s Sarah Connor’s protector. How and why remains to be seen, but hey, that’s why you’ve got to buy a ticket. To figure out how a robot can age and learn to a be a good guy who smiles awkwardly. (Very awkwardly.)

Of the four Terminator films previously released, Arnold Schwarzenegger technically only appeared in three. The iconic actor was too busy, you know, being the Governor of California to make an appearance in McG’s Terminator: Salvation, so his face was digitally placed over a Schwarzenegger-esque body instead. With Terminator Genisys hitting theaters soon, Schwarzenegger has been talking about the franchise a lot, and he has some choice words for Salvation.

‘Terminator 2’, James Cameron’s sequel to his cult hit from 1984, had a budget of $94 million. That may not sound like much these days when Michael Bay movies routinely cost over $200 million, but in 1991, when ‘Terminator 2’ first opened in theaters, it was the most expensive movie ever made (this was even more impressive considering that the original ‘Terminator’ cost only $6 million to make). A good chunk of that money went to star Arnold Schwarzenegger who was paid a then-record $15 million, plus they bought him a private jet! Want to know more? No problemo, just watch the latest installment of You Think You Know Movies!