James Cameron has always welcomed a challenge, and it appears the next one facing him is how to make a “future-proof” Terminator movie. With the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third entry in the billion-dollar franchise, set to open in theaters, Cameron is looking towards future projects, with one particular title being from his past. The iconic director got his big break with The Terminator, and he redefined sequels with Terminator 2: Judgment Day. He is set to begin work on a new entry in the beloved sci-fi franchise, though making it in 2025 seems more difficult than in 1984.
Speaking with Gizmodo, Cameron spoke about beginning work on a new Terminator film after the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash. “I’ll have some time to write and to consider my next projects and the order in which I do them and so on once we’re done with the marketing on this in a month or so,” said Cameron. “I’ve got a stack of notes this thick [holds fingers about three inches apart], which is how I start all my scripts, on what I want to do with a new Terminator film. I’m going to pour myself into that as a writer.” However, the big obstacle Cameron finds himself facing is how much reality has caught up with science fiction, and making a new Terminator movie “future-proof”, at least for a couple of years.
“It’s difficult. I have to tell you. Science fiction has caught up and is actually overwhelming us at this point. We’re living in a science fiction world, and we’re literally having to deal with problems that in the past only existed in science fiction books and movies. Now we’re living it for real. I’ll never be as prescient as I was back in 1984 of imagining this one because I don’t think anybody knows what’s going to be happening a year or two years from now. But I at least want to future-proof myself by being a couple years out.
James Cameron and the Future of ‘The Terminator’
A new Terminator movie is just one film James Cameron is beginning to work on. He is set to write and direct an adaptation of Charles Pellegrino’s novel Ghost of Hiroshima, centered on a Japanese man during World War II who survived two atomic bombings. That will be Cameron’s first post-Avatar related film in over 20 years. There is also Avatar 4 and Avatar 5, both set for release in 2029 and 2031, respectively. Though Cameron has said that he concluded Avatar: Fire and Ash in a way that wraps up the story, on the chance that the movie underperforms and the sequels don’t get made.
At the moment, Cameron is only set to write a new Terminator. It is possible, if not likely, that he will let another filmmaker direct, similar to how he wrote and produced Alita: Battle Angel. While Cameron had previously stepped away from the franchise after Terminator 2: Judgment Day, he was heavily involved in 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate, a movie that was the best-received sequel since T2 but was sadly a box office disappointment.
Cameron has spoken in the past about the difficulties of relaunching Terminator in today’s world, where technology is such an integral part of everyday life. In the years since the start of the franchise, the fears around artificial intelligence have gone from the stuff of science fiction to reality. Cameron even spoke about the terrors of weaponized AI back in August 2025. Can the Terminator franchise adjust to a world that is not only used to AI, but also to some corners that seem to welcome it? It provides a unique chance to evolve the franchise for the first time since 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day.