Academy Award-winning director James Cameron became a household name in the ‘80s after writing and helming the classic science-fiction action film, “The Terminator,” in 1984. But in this 17th year of the 21st century, Cameron is resurrecting the franchise through a reboot, which is expected to be released on July 26, 2019.

Following the box office success of his killer robot movie in 1984, Cameron also admitted his fears on the rise of modern technology and artificial intelligence (AI). But apart from the new “Terminator” sequel, Cameron is also currently working on four “Avatar” installments.

Upcoming ‘Terminator’ sequel

Since the success of the original “The Terminator” film, the franchise has spawned four sequels and one television series. However, fans became less interested in the three sequels after Cameron became uninvolved with them.

Fortunately, Cameron came on board the production for the latest sequel after Skydance Media’s David Ellison persuaded him to be a part of the team. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ellison bought the rights to the franchise from his sister Megan after she acquired them from an auction for $20 million in 2011.

The untitled sequel will be helmed by “Deadpool” director Tim Miller, while the film’s team of writers include Ellison, Justin Rhodes, David Goyer, Josh Friedman and, Charles Eglee.

As for the cast, original “Terminator” stars — 70-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger and 61-year-old Linda Hamilton are reportedly making a comeback in the sequel, The Verge noted.

The plot

Since the theme of the original film revolves around the emergence of Artificial Intelligence, James Cameron believed that it “made sense” and it’s relevant to bring the film back into the 21st century, where AI-driven systems have become pervasive.

The 63-year-old filmmaker added that the sequel will be a continuation of the events that happened in his previous two installments.

As for the original plot, it is a common fact that “The Terminator” was based on Cameron’s nightmare about an “invincible robot hitman” from the future who wanted to kill him. The said nightmare occurred while he was filming a movie in Rome in the ‘80s.

Fears over the rise of AI and technology

Speaking about technology and artificial intelligence, the “Titanic” director admitted that “technology has always scared and seduced” him. Cameron also explained why machines have already won against humanity, noting the fact that many people are hooked to their smartphones.

Since human beings are “co-evolving” and “merging” with technology, Cameron believed that there’s a possibility that AI-powered robots could overpower humans and it could become uncontrollable. Apart from Cameron, Tim Miller also admitted his fears about AI.

Miller even pointed out that some experts are also scared, so it worried him even more. Miller added that he “can’t imagine what a truly artificial intelligence” will make of human beings.

Controlling AI

Even though Cameron thinks that AI could become uncontrollable someday, he stressed that the reason behind this has something to do with “human nature.” He even highlighted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement about a country that “perfects AI will dominate or conquer the world.”

For Cameron, he believes that the outcome of the AI development is a reflection of the “best and worst nature” of human beings since we design, create, and program them. So, whether or not the goal of a programmer is to improve the market or for defense, the results could still be dangerous because of the tendencies to teach these systems “greed” or “to kill.”

Miller, on the other hand, believes that AI will be better than humans. But he explained that the goal of AI’s development is not to destroy humanity.
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