The fifth Terminator movie “Terminator Genisys” which was shown last year was a box office debacle as it was the worst performing film of the franchise.
For a while, the producers were hoping to revive the franchise with the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger after skipping the fourth film and let Sam Worthington reign.
Unfortunately, that did not happen as the fifth movie fared even worse than the fourth movie, which was not a nice send off to Schwarzenegger for the franchise. It is obvious that Arnie was already too old for the role and he is better off doing what Harrison Ford did with his Han Solo character in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” – getting a graceful exit.
It is also interesting to note that despite the presence of Emilia Clarke, who is very popular on TV these days for her Daenerys Targaryen character from the HBO hit series “Game of Thrones,” it still did not help the movie’s box office cause.
Prior to the release of “Terminator 5,” the reports were saying that the fifth movie would take back the franchise to its roots after it deviated dramatically after the second movie.
However, the writers and directors seem to have missed the point completely and it showed with the not-so-good box office performance of “Terminator Genisys” when it hit theaters in June of last year.
James Cameron set to return
What the producers failed to see is the fact that in addition to Arnold Schwarzenegger who made the first two films of the franchise very successful, there was also then upstart James Cameron.
Everybody knows James Cameron these days, having written and directed the top two all-time highest grossing movies in “Avatar” and “Titanic.”
Reports have it that James Cameron has agreed to be on board to help the franchise, which may soon get a fresh reboot in 2019, reports the Daily Disruption.
The news of Cameron working on a “Terminator” reboot has reignited hope that it will help the franchise gain traction once again. After all, he was the one responsible for making the first two movies.
The saga of the ‘Terminator’ franchise
The possible entry of James Cameron is the latest development in an ongoing saga of “The Terminator” franchise.
It might have endured the craziest road of any billion-dollar movie franchise, going back to the time when Cameron, who only had “Piranha 2” under his belt as director, sold rights to his scripted project for $1 to producer Gale Anne Hurd, with the stipulation he could not be fired as director.
The result was a 1984 sci-fi classic that launched his star and that of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Cameron came back and topped himself to write and direct the blockbuster Terminator 2: Judgment Day” seven years later, reports Deadline.
But he stayed off from the franchise since then. He mentioned to producers Mario Kassar and Andy Vajna his plans to buy the rights back from Carolco bankruptcy.
They beat him to the punch, figuring he would still participate, but Cameron responded by walking away. He didn’t participate in the three films that followed, or the TV show “The Sarah Connor Chronicles”
After Cameron gave it up, the rights ended up with Pacificor, which paid $29.5 million, and Megan Ellison bought them after that company floundered.
Cameron has had zero involvement since then and has largely been silent. The exception was in the last picture, “Terminator Genisys.”
Perhaps because his old buddy and “True Lies” star Schwarzenegger had returned as the title character, Cameron was generous in his assessment, reportedly saying that the Alan Taylor-directed film had reinvigorated and created a renaissance for the franchise.
Cameron is reportedly trying to gain the rights for the film and speculations are saying that it would take place in two years time. He will also reportedly try to get “Deadpool” director Tim Miller for the project. Though nothing is finalized, there are reports that Miller is already in talks for the reboot.