James Cameron addresses the current challenges that the science-fiction genre faces, including in the development of Terminator 7. Even though he continues to be busy working on the upcoming Avatar sequels, it is confirmed that Cameron is writing a Terminator 7 script. After directing The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, both of which became science-fiction classics, Cameron stepped away from the franchise until returning as a producer to help develop the story for the most recent installment, Terminator: Dark Fate.

In an interview with The Guardian, Cameron reflects on how the science-fiction genre has changed since his early Terminator films, and how this is largely due to the way real-world technology has vastly accelerated and transformed society in only a few decades. He is candid about some of his earlier work in the genre not standing the test of time due to these real-world changes, while acknowledging the movie that has aged well. Cameron also discusses how these ongoing changes make it difficult to develop a truly relevant and compelling story for Terminator 7. Check out his comments below:

People pay the compliment, “Oh, it still holds up.” I actually think that’s true of Terminator 2 qualitatively. I think Terminator 1 qualitatively is pretty obsolete, although story-wise it’s still pretty intriguing. There’s some interest around this idea that it was a bit prescient on certain things, like the emergence of AI, the potential existential threat of AI, which is transforming our world before our eyes.

We’re at a point right now where it gets harder and harder to write science fiction because we’re living in a science fiction world on a day-to-day basis. I’m working through some of the themes that I want to bring into a new Terminator film or possibly even a kind of a reboot of a larger story framework, and it’s difficult right now because I want to let the smoke clear on the whole thing. That’s going to be a ride that we’re going to be watching for probably the rest of human history, but certainly the next few years are going to be quite telling.