Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is a 2003 American science fiction action film directed by Jonathan Mostow. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, and Kristanna Loken, it is the third installment in the Terminator franchise and a sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). 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. The resistance sends back a reprogrammed T-850 (Schwarzenegger) to protect John and his future wife, Kate (Danes).