James Cameron reveals his clashes with director Tim Miller over the final cut of Terminator: Dark Fate. Cameron of course co-wrote and directed the original Terminator back in 1984, introducing the world to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s iconic T-800, a killing machine from the future sent back to murder Linda Hamilton’s equally iconic Sarah Connor. Cameron would revisit the characters, and expand their universe, in the 1991 sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

But after the blockbuster success of Judgment Day, Cameron would move away from the franchise to tackle other projects, including the Oscar-winning Titanic and the epic smash Avatar. Meanwhile, various studios pressed on with the Terminator series through the sequels Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys, movies that would seek to further build out the Terminator world while keeping the franchise alive financially. Unfortunately, critics and fans largely shunned those three efforts, which is part of the reason why many were so excited to see Cameron return to Terminator as a more involved producer for the newest film, Dark Fate.

Related: Every Terminator Movie, Ranked Worst To Best (Including Dark Fate)

Of course, Cameron himself did not direct Dark Fate, handing those duties off to Miller while himself remaining absent from the set. In a recent roundtable appearance, Cameron addressed the contentious relationship he enjoyed with Miller and how it contrasted with his time working with another of his recent collaborators, Robert Rodriguez, who directed the Cameron-produced Alita: Battle Angel. When asked if there were any battles during the editing process for Dark Fate, Cameron replied (via CinemaBlend):

I would say many. And the blood is still being scrubbed off the walls from those creative battles. This is a film that was forged in fire. So yeah, but that's the creative process, right? I mean, my work with Robert on Alita was very different. Robert loved the script, loved everything, said, 'I just want to make this movie. I want to make the movie the way you see it.' I was like, ‘No, you got to make it your movie.’ I had the reverse experience with Tim, which is Tim wanted to make it his movie. And I'm like, ‘Yeah, but I kind of know a little about this world.’ So I had the matter and the anti-matter version of that producorial experience.

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator: Dark Fate

In a recent interview with Screen Rant, Miller himself talked about how he approached the Terminator universe, saying:

You feel like, if there’s a railroad, the track was already laid there. So, it just happens to stop out in the middle of nowhere, and I just started laying more track. Because Jim kind of created this; set up the story, set up these characters; and I'm just sort of telling the next chapter of it.

Though Miller's remarks there seem very deferential toward Cameron and his work setting up the Terminator story, it seems from Cameron's own words that Miller took quite a bit of ownership over Dark Fate, to the point where they were metaphorically spraying the walls with each other's blood. Cameron of course is known for being a stubborn person who is unwilling to compromise on his vision, but it sounds like Miller is also someone who is unwilling to back down when it comes to defending his ideas. Of course, in such situations the hope is that the two clashing visions can meet in some middle ground and result in a film that doesn't bear the scars of compromise.

Thus far, it seems critics are happy with the results on Terminator: Dark Fate, as many are calling it a franchise return to form. It remains to be seen if the film succeeds enough with audiences to launch a new Terminator franchise (of course Cameron already has ideas for further stories) and it also remains to be seen if Miller will return to direct any future Terminator films. By the sounds of it, a movie about Cameron and Miller's working relationship might even be better - and more violent - than an actual Terminator movie.

More: Every Single Terminator Model (In All Movies)

Source: CinemaBlend

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