Our long Skynet-fueled national nightmare is finally over, as the streak of blasphemous PG-13-rated Terminator movies has come to an end.
As promised, the upcoming Terminator: Dark Fate has officially received its R-rating, lending even more credence to the idea that this film really will be the Terminator 2 sequel we’ve been waiting for since the early ’90s. The first two films in the franchise: 1984’s The Terminator and its 1991 blockbuster sequel Terminator 2: Judgement Day, were both rated R. They were also the last two films in the franchise to involve franchise creator James Cameron, who wrote and directed both installments. Cameron departed before the maligned 2003 sequel Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and though that film did have an R-rating, it sorely missed Cameron’s guiding presence. In more recent years, the franchise went even more wayward with the PG-13-rated (and unpopular) Terminator: Salvation and Terminator: Genisys. But now, Cameron is finally back as a producer for Terminator: Dark Fate, and he’s brought original stars Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger along for this R-rated ride that will hopefully right the Terminator ship.
One person who is sure to be pleased with the film’s R-rating is Arnold himself, who previously shared his preference for Dark Fate‘s gore over Genisys‘ more family-friendly vibes. “I am so delighted. I was sick and tired with the last time, when the studio decided to make it a PG-13 rating just because they thought there more dollars in there. That’s not Terminator,” Bloody Disgusting quoted Schwarzenegger as saying. “I was so angry about them trying to cut out the blood and gore. In this movie, we have the gore… we have the blood — I’m not even going to talk about what I do in this movie — Gabriel (Luna, the new evil Terminator) literally cuts people to shreds. There’s blood, there’s gore, there’s guts, you can see the heart being ripped out.”
Welp, that sure sounds like Terminator to us! Terminator: Dark Fate hits theaters on Nov. 1.
