Here's how 'Terminator 6' will handle Arnold Schwarzenegger's age

'Terminator 6'

The 'Terminator' franchise has not been terminated yet, as director Tim Miller has officially signed on to work with James Cameron on the sixth installment in the franchise. By the time the franchise is back in 2019 with its new installment, 35 years would have been passed since the first 'Terminator' movie.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Miller and Cameron, did not specify how an older T-800 fits into the plot, but they note it makes sense that the flesh outside of the Terminator's endo-skeleton would age.

Cameron said, 'So, obviously he's one that's been in action and operation for a long time. And that's all I want to say about the actual story part of it. But it's actually quite intrinsic to the story, that he's subject to the frailties of the flesh. In fact, in the first film, the flesh is burned away completely but that endo-skeleton has a power cell that will last 100 years. So, he's still got 30, 29 years.'

The idea of the human skin aging was also used in 2015's ill-fated 'Terminator: Genisys', in which Arnold Schwarzenegger's version of the T-800 had been around since Emilia Clarke's Sarah Connor was a child, explaining why the Terminator looked older in the film's 1984. Miller noted that just as the Terminator's body will have changed, so too will his mind.

He shared, 'Emotionally and intellectually he will have evolved. They're learning machines. But I think that's a way to make it different than it was. I think we should embrace his age. And that's what's going to make it interesting and fresh for the fans. And I can't tell you, but man, some of the scenes that the writers wrote to embrace that idea are fucking fantastic.'

Miller also specified that this indeed takes place in the same timeline of the first two movies, not some sort of alternate reality. 'I don't believe in alternate realities. I think that takes the stakes away from some things. It's not like every time something new happens, it spins out a new reality,' shared Miller.

For Cameron, a key to the success of T2 were the rules surrounding the T-1000, who the film established could only form blades or stabbing weapons, but he couldn't form guns.

Cameron noted, 'It's when you break the rules and just make stuff up and pull it out of your ass in Act Three and people feel like they're on shifting ground. But if you just set out the rules, and you play by those rules. Then, I think it just works better. People are more engaged.'

The untitled 'Terminator' movie is slated release on July 26, 2019.