By now we know all about the problematic Terminator saga. Initially launched by Cameron, the franchise went downhill somewhere after his second movie and has been in creative hell ever since. Even though Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines does have some followers, the film is basically a retread of T2 and was helmed by a much less talented director. After the lackluster results of Salvation and Genisys, most gave up on ever getting another movie about the cybernetic Terminators and the fight against Skynet. Last year, Arnold announced he was retiring the character but then recanted.
Tonight, word comes down that Cameron is back on board and is eagerly attempting to get the film series back on track with a new trilogy possibly being developed. Many questions remain to be answered. Who will take on the series after so many problematic entries? What will the movies be about? Will it be a total reboot? When asked, Cameron had this to say:
“The question is — has the franchise run its course or can it be freshened up? Can it still have relevance now where so much of our world is catching up to what was science fiction in the first two films. We live in a world of predator drones and surveillance and big data and emergent AI (artificial intelligence).
…I am in discussions with David Ellison, who is the current rights holder globally for the Terminator franchise and the rights in the US market revert to me under US copyright law in a year and a half so he and I are talking about what we can do. Right now we are leaning toward doing a three-film arc and reinventing it.”
We’ll put more meat on the bones if we get past the next couple of hurdles as and when we announce that.”
This all sounds interesting. Whether or not it comes to fruition still remains to be seen.