Linda Hamilton promises Terminator: Dark Fate isn't a 'shameless money grab'

When it came to the idea of returning to the world of The Terminator, Linda Hamilton wasn't exactly sold on the idea right away.

The upcoming Terminator: Dark Fate will mark the sixth film in the long-running dystopian sci-fi franchise. While The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day are some of the most revered genre films of all time, the three that followed (Rise of the Machines, Salvation, and Genisys) never quite found their footing with audiences. They also created a jumbled mess of a continuity problem, which time-travel stories are apt to do. 

Even though Hamilton ultimately agreed to once again play Sarah Connor for Dark Fate, she told Variety that she took her time deciding if she wanted to return to the average girl-turned-ruthless robot slayer that she first played 35 years ago. 

"I gave it probably six weeks of intense thinking and consideration before deciding to do it," Hamilton explained. "I didn’t want it to look like a shameless money grab. I am living this quiet, lovely life that doesn’t involve being a celebrity, and you really have to think, do I really want to trade that in again for another 15 minutes?"

Even though the script for Dark Fate wasn't completed when Hamilton officially signed on, seeing Sarah Connor's evolution in early story drafts convinced her to do it. The film will also reset the timeline, so to speak. As a direct sequel to the first two Terminator movies, it will ignore all the trio of films that came out after, which Hamilton referred to as "forgettable." 

"You start something and you’re invested in the franchise, but somehow the characters that you care about weren’t there. Too many people, too many story points. So I think we’ve done a good job of narrowing down the focus again so it will echo the first two films."

We'll see how Terminator: Dark Fate stacks up against the rest of the franchise when it opens in theaters on November 1.