James Cameron says he’s had discussions about relaunching The Terminator franchise, and already knows what the new story would be about. Cameron kicked off a highly-successful sci-fi/action franchise with his iconic 1984 film The Terminator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cyborg assassin from the future. The 1991 sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day thrilled audiences while racking up blockbuster-level box office, but subsequent entries in the series have experienced diminishing returns both with critics and in terms of box office receipts. Fans indeed were left wondering after 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate whether they’d seen the last of Cameron and Schwarzenegger’s classic movie franchise.
But now it seems that Terminator isn’t quite terminated yet. Appearing on the Smartless podcast with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett to promote his current blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water, Cameron gave an update on the future of his other big sci-fi franchise post-Dark Fate, and confirmed that talks have indeed happened concerning a possible relaunch. Cameron then went on to tease the new direction he would take Terminator in if indeed he gets a chance to make another movie somewhere down the road. Check out Cameron’s encouraging Terminator reboot remarks in the space below (via Playlist):
“Well, the Avatar films are about the environment; I’m not dealing with AI … If I were to do another ‘Terminator’ film and maybe try and launch that franchise again, which is in discussion, but nothing has been decided … I would make it much more about the AI side of it than bad robots gone crazy.”
Why Terminator: Dark Fate Was A Franchise Dead End
Cameron recently had occasion to discuss 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate, the last attempt to reboot the franchise. In the producer’s own estimation, the movie’s biggest problem was in how it failed to connect with young audiences, remarking that it was a mistake to bring back both Linda Hamilton and Schwarzegger. Cameron told Deadline that by featuring both over-60 actors, “All of a sudden it wasn’t your ‘Terminator’ movie, it wasn’t even your dad’s ‘Terminator’ movie, it was your granddad’s ‘Terminator’ movie.” Cameron also admitted to having battles with the movie’s director Tim Miller, who was the one who insisted on bringing Hamilton back into the fold.
Cameron has now made it clear that he understands it’s time to try something new with the Terminator franchise after the dead end of Dark Fate. That probably means moving on from original Terminator stars Hamilton and Schwarzenegger (who are not getting any younger after all). But it may also mean moving away from the “bad robots gone crazy” action that has characterized the series ever since the first movie. The AI element has obviously always been present in Terminator as well, via the evil self-aware neural consciousness Skynet and its role in creating a hellish future where humans are hunted by cyborgs. Clearly, Terminator 7 would emphasize the Skynet side of things, if Cameron gets his way.
Can Terminator Survive Without Crazy Robot Action?
What Cameron seems to be teasing with his new remarks is a Terminator 7 that would veer away from the franchise’s prior strategy of introducing new, more-dangerous cyborgs with each installment, in favor of something closer to a paranoid thriller like Wargames or Colossus: The Forbin Project. But certainly Cameron does not mean that Terminator would entirely abandon its action-centric approach to science-fiction. Ultimately, “crazy robot action” is too central to The Terminator to be entirely left in the dust. But certainly, a greater balance could be struck between cerebral exploration of the dangers of AI, and slightly less-cerebral action sequences full of cyborgs driving big trucks and shooting huge guns.
Source: Smartless Podcast (via Playlist)