Terminator stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton – then and now

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton shared a warm greeting as they kissed while promoting their new film Terminator: Dark Fate, nearly 30 years after they were last on screen together.

Schwarzenegger is back as the Terminator in the latest film in the sci-fi franchise, while Hamilton has returned as Sarah Connor for the first time since Terminator 2: Judgment Day in 1991.

The long-time friends and co-stars first appeared on screen together 35 years ago in 1984 film The Terminator before reuniting for the sequel seven years later.

While Schwarzenegger, 72, continued to appear as the cyborg assassin in two of the follow-up films in the franchise – Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (2003) and Terminator: Genysis (2015) – Hamilton, 63, has been absent until now.

She returns in her action hero guise in the new film, recruiting Schwarzenegger’s ageing Terminator, her former nemesis, to help a young woman being pursued by a threatening new breed of Terminator.

Dark Fate is billed as a direct sequel to Terminator 2, with the other three films, which also include Terminator Salvation (2009), are said to have occurred in alternate timelines.

The Hollywood stars have been back together in recent weeks for promotional activity ahead of the release of Dark Fate, which also sees the franchise’s creator, James Cameron, return for the first time since Terminator 2 as producer.

On Thursday, the duo were joined by their new co-stars, Gabriel Luna, Mackenzie Davis and Natalia Reyes, at a photocall in London.

Hamilton wore a chic printed coat for the occasion, while former governor of California Schwarzenegger looked suave in jeans and a blue jacket.

The film, directed by Deadpool’s Tim Miller, stars Davis (Smashed, Blade Runner 2049) as a human soldier-cyborg hybrid who needs Connor’s help, and Luna (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as an advanced liquid metal Terminator prototype with the ability to split into two separate units.

Luna’s character has been sent to terminate Dani, played by Reyes, who stars in Colombian telenovela Lady, La Vendedora De Rosas.

Terminator: Dark Fate is in cinemas on October 23.