Linda Hamilton joins James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger in return to Terminator franchise

Linda Hamilton is returning to the world of Terminator after more than 25 years, reuniting with her co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger and the creator of the sci-fi franchise, James Cameron.

Hamilton starred in the original Terminator movie in 1984 and Terminator 2: Judgment Day in 1991 as robot-battling heroine Sarah Connor. She was a waitress being hunted down by Schwarzenegger's unstoppable killing machine sent from the future, and then a battle-hardened resistance fighter.

Making the announcement, Cameron told The Hollywood Reporter how important it was to have a female action hero return in her later years. "As meaningful as she was to gender and action stars everywhere back then, it’s going to make a huge statement to have that seasoned warrior that she’s become return,” he said.

"There are 50-year-old, 60-year-old guys out there killing bad guys,” he said, referring to veteran male actors still leading action movies, “but there isn’t an example of that for women.”

Both Hamilton and Cameron, who were married to each other in the late 90s, took a break from the franchise for the 2003, 2009 and 2015 sequels.

Plot details are under wraps for the sixth movie, which will be directed by Deadpool’s Tim Miller, but it will be treated as a direct sequel to Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Hamilton will not play the lead, as Cameron is searching for "an 18-something woman to be the new centrepiece of the new story".

He added: "We still fold time. We will have characters from the future and the present. There will be mostly new characters, but we'll have Arnold and Linda’s characters to anchor it."