Cameron wants back in Terminator trilogy

HE said he would be back and he meant it — director James Cameron wants to make another three Terminator movies.

The master director, behind the two highest grossing movies in Avatar and Titanic, says he is looking to “reinvent” the big-budget sci-fi franchise that put him on the map in 1984.

His original Terminator, starring Arnold Schwarzen- egger as a murderous cyborg sent from the future was made for a modest $US6 million ($A7.6 million) and went on to make $US78 million and became a cult classic.

Its 1991 sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, was at the time the most expensive film made, with a budget of $US100 million, and was a critical and box office hit, raking in $US520 million thanks to its explosive mix of memorable characters, action and cutting-edge technology.

Cameron opted out of the third film, Rise of the Machines, and the franchise has been in decline since. 2015’s critically derided reboot Terminator: Genisys, with Game Of Thrones’s Emelia Clarke and Aussies Jason Clarke and Jai Courtney joining Schwarzenegger in the cast was to be the first in a new series, but underperformed at the box office, making sequels unlikely.

But now, before the 3D theatre re-release of T2 next month, Cameron says he is in negotiations to oversee a new “three-film arc”.

Schwarzenegger would be involved “to some extent” but the plan would be to introduce new characters to “pass the baton”.