Terminator will be back as Netflix toon

The Terminator franchise began with the James Cameron movie

Netflix is partnering with Skydance and Production IG in the US for an animated TV adaptation of the Terminator franchise.

It marks the latest piece of well-known IP that the global streaming is turning into an anime series, following recent orders for series based on 2017 film Kong: Skull Island and the Tomb Raider video game franchise.

The Terminator series is being produced in partnership with Production IG (Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045, B: The Beginning), with which Netflix has had a production line deal since 2018. The showrunner and executive producer will be Mattson Tomlin (Project Power, The Batman).

John Derderian

John Derderian, VP of Japan and anime at Netflix, said: “Terminator is one of the most iconic sci-fi stories ever created and has only grown more relevant to our world over time. The new animated series will explore this universe in a way that has never been done before. We can’t wait for fans to experience this amazing new chapter in the epic battle between machines and humans.”

The Terminator anime series joins the previous live-action TV adaption in the franchise, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which ran on Fox in the US for two seasons between 2008 and 2009.

The franchise was created by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd and began in the 1980s with the feature film The Terminator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Since then, five other Terminator feature films have been released, alongside Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and two web series, one of which was animated and released on now-defunct streaming platform Machinima in 2009.