Mackenzie Davis in talks to join Terminator reboot

Mackenzie Davis is rising from the domain of science-fiction and techie dramas to claim the leading role of a franchise film. Known for her gigs in AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire, The Martian, Netflix’s Black Mirror, and Blade Runner 2049, the actress is in talks to star in the latest reboot of Terminator, EW has learned.

Terminator: Genisys had hoped to re-spawn the franchise with a story featuring Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Jason Clarke, Matt Smith, and, of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the 2015 film wasn’t a hit with critics. Schwarzenegger and fellow Terminator veteran Linda Hamilton are now making comebacks for this sixth film, though plot details have been kept under wraps.

Variety, which was first to reveal the news, reports Davis will be the new face of the franchise, while The Hollywood Reporter is calling her character a human “solder-assassin on a mission.”

Davis can be seen this year opposite Charlize Theron as the Mad Max mamma’s nanny in the film Tully.

Tim Miller (Deadpool) will direct the new Terminator with cooperation from original helmer James Cameron. “This is a continuation of the story from Terminator 1 and Terminator 2,” Cameron said of this latest incarnation. “And we’re pretending the other films were a bad dream. Or an alternate timeline, which is permissible in our multi-verse. This was really driven more by [Tim] than anybody, surprisingly, because I came in pretty agnostic about where we took it. The only thing I insisted on was that we somehow revamp it and reinvent it for the 21st century.”

The untitled Terminator film is scheduled to open in theaters on July 26, 2019.