In its plot, the malevolent artificial intelligence Skynet sends a T-X (Loken)—a highly advanced Terminator—back in time to ensure the rise of machines by killing top members of the future human resistance as John Connor's (Stahl) location is unknown.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines premiered at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood, Los Angeles, on June 30, 2003, and was released on July 2, 2003, by Warner Bros. Pictures in North America.

Inside her coffin, they find a weapons cache left at Sarah's request in case Judgment Day was not averted and the Terminators returned.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff[c] pressures him to activate Skynet to stop an anomalous computer virus from invading servers worldwide.

The pair head for the tarmac to take General Brewster's single-engine plane to Crystal Peak, a facility built inside the Sierra Nevada.

As it prepares to kill John, he urges the Terminator to choose between its conflicting programming; it deliberately forces a shutdown of its corrupted system, enabling the pair's escape.

John and Kate discover that Crystal Peak is not Skynet's core but rather a nuclear fallout shelter command facility for government and military officials.

[15][19] That day, Fox signed a $50 million deal to acquire all of Carolco's assets, including the rights to Terminator sequels, as well as the company's existing film library.

However, it was determined that the film could not be made on the intended budget when considering the additional cost of purchasing Carolco's rights,[22] as well as Schwarzenegger's desired $25 million salary.

[8] That month, Mechanic discovered that Vajna had been quietly negotiating with the bankruptcy court to acquire the rights for himself and Kassar; the duo planned to form a new production company with Terminator 3 as its debut.

The latter companies helped finance development of a script by Tedi Sarafian,[36][40] who was hired for the film in 1999, along with David C. Wilson for a possible fourth installment.

[36][38] Vajna and Kassar accepted a proposal from Fox, but it fell apart once Toho-Towa and VCL were brought onto the project, as the latter companies purchased the distribution rights for Japan and Germany, the largest markets outside of the United States.

[48][49] Other directors being considered in 2000 included Ang Lee, Christian Duguay, David Fincher, John McTiernan, Ridley Scott, and Roland Emmerich.

[43] Brancato said there was initial consideration given to ignoring the basic format of the earlier films by removing aspects of time travel and killer machines from the future: "We tried all sorts of wacky scenarios [...] But to be honest it just wasn't working.

The cast and crew generally agreed that they did not want to relocate from California, so $8 million was trimmed from the budget, allowing for filming to take place entirely in the state.

[82] Hamilton said in October 2001 that the script did not take her character in any new directions: "The film is really about turning the baton over to Sarah's son John, played by Eddie Furlong.

"[5] When Schwarzenegger was called into Kassar and Vajna's office in April 2001, he did not expect them to bring up Terminator 3 given the film's long stint in development hell.

[101] The first night of filming involved Schwarzenegger's Terminator ramming a vehicle into Loken's T-X outside the animal hospital,[30] which was constructed as a set in Los Angeles' Sunland-Tujunga neighborhood.

[90][104] Initially, Mostow was somewhat hesitant about following Cameron's footsteps as director,[35][66] but he eventually put aside such concerns and later said, "Everyone will see this movie and make comparisons, but I can't control any of that.

Certain sequences involving fire and explosions were deemed too dangerous for Schwarzenegger and Loken to perform, so Winston and his team constructed life-sized robot replicas of the actors for such scenes.

[5] ILM used miniature sculptures and computer-generated imagery (CGI) to create numerous visual effects for brief scenes set in the future, depicting the post-apocalyptic war between humans and machines.

Pablo Helman, visual effects supervisor for ILM, said, "We had no application for creating and controlling streams of liquid metal, so we had to begin by determining the density, weight, shape and mass of this material, and how it would move under these conditions.

[90] One scene depicts the T-101 cutting open his chest cavity to remove a failing fuel cell battery, while simultaneously driving a truck.

Schwarzenegger was situated in the back of the truck, and his head and arms were visible in the front seat to give the impression that he was connected to the body cast.

Helman said the scene required "a tremendous amount of visual effects to accomplish, and in some shots, large sections of the bathroom are completely computer generated."

[125] Atari adapted the film into three video games, beginning with Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) developed by Black Ops Entertainment for multiple platforms.

[127] On the weekend of the film's release, NASCAR drivers Jamie McMurray and Michael Waltrip each drove T3-branded cars during races at Daytona International Speedway.

[139] Additionally, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines surpassed Batman & Robin for having the biggest opening weekend for any film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"[151] Metacritic (which uses a weighted average) assigned Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines a score of 66 out of 100 based on 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

[156] Roger Ebert gave the film two-and-a-half stars, remarking "Essentially one long chase and fight, punctuated by comic, campy or simplistic dialogue.