The Thursday night box office results for Terminator: Dark Fate are in, and they are not very optimistic. Dark Fate marks the sixth film in the Terminator franchise and is said to be a direct sequel to 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day. It sees the return of Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800, and James Cameron as a producer. This time around, Tim Miller (Deadpool) is in the director's chair.
Box office predictions for Dark Fate have been on the low side so far, with tracking suggesting it will open around $33 million. Initial estimates had it at $35-$45 million, and the fact that it has lowered even a little does not bode well for the pic. This kind of opening would put it below Terminator Salvation's first weekend in 2009. The budget for Dark Fate was $185 million, meaning it needs to rake in a lot of money to be considered a success. Also starring Mackenzie Davis and Gabriel Luna, the film follows Davis' Grace, a cyborg-human hybrid from the future who must protect a young woman (Natalia Reyes) from one of the most advanced Terminators of all time (Luna).
On Twitter, Exhibitor Relations Co. tweeted about Dark Fate's Thursday box office results, saying it scored just $2.3 million. They then go on to say "That's GENISYS territory, folks." Terminator Genisys was supposed to reinvent the franchise in 2015, but it fell short of box office expectations and was panned critically. Opening on the Tuesday before the Fourth of July, Genisys earned $2.3 million in previews. Its 3-day weekend total was $27 million, which would be disastrous for Dark Fate.
Paramount's expectations for Dark Fate are high, as evidenced by its massive budget. The returns of Hamilton and Cameron are supposed to entice fans, though it seems they may feel too burned by past flops to be willing to try again. There is also a chance that Thursday being Halloween affected the number of people heading to the movie theater. Terminator: Dark Fate reviews were decidedly mixed, with the initial Rotten Tomatoes score being in the 60s. Now, however, it boasts a 70 percent.
Dark Fate was always going to be a bit of a gamble for Paramount, as not every franchise gets rebooted successfully. The Terminator franchise has attempted to move forward several times, but its most recent sequels missed their marks. Attempting to reboot a franchise over and over can lead to confusion as to what counts as canon and what does not, and Terminator is no exception. It is disappointing, but not surprising, to hear that fans may be unwilling to turn out for Dark Fate, especially since it is supposed to be a return to form for the iconic sci-fi franchise. It will become clearer in the coming days what Terminator: Dark Fate's box office fate will be.
Source: Exhibitor Relations Co.
