After the box office failure of Terminator: Dark Fate, it was time for the next film in the series to start as fresh as possible. Ever since the well-received sequel Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was released in 2003, the Terminator franchise just can’t seem to catch a break. Terminator Salvation was supposed to deliver the future that war movie fans have long been asking for, starring Christian Bale, but it ended up being a huge disappointment. Terminator: Genisys was a little better, but still left most fans extremely disappointed.
The last game of 2019, Terminator: Dark Fate, was a strange one, as it received the best reviews in the franchise since Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but failed like a rock at the box office. Taking all factors into account, Terminator: Dark Fate reportedly lost more than $100 million for the studios involved, including Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox and producer Skydance Media. This is despite a massive marketing campaign aimed at bringing back franchise creator James Cameron as a producer, as well as original film stars Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger to the cast.
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Why Terminator: Dark Fate Killed Off John Connor
While Terminator: Dark Fate left the door open for a sequel, with Hamilton once again starring as Sarah Connor opposite Dani (Natalia Reyes), Hamilton has since said she’s done with the franchise, and given all the money lost, this story cannot continue. However, the Terminator can’t stay dead for more than a few years, and when it returns, creatives will have to offer moviegoers something completely new.
The Next Terminator Movie Needs to Be Completely Different
Each of the post-Terminator 3 attempts to revive the franchise have been made with the intention of starting a new trilogy, as Hollywood is never interested in “just” making one movie anymore. However, while Salvation, Genisys, and Dark Fate were all quite different from one another, the major element they had in common was trying to leverage the franchise’s past success. Salvation centered on John Connor and Kyle Reese. Genisys featured Sarah, John, and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800. Dark Fate brought back Cameron, Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton.
As much as some did like Dark Fate, it’s clear that simply trying to coast on the back of what worked before isn’t enough to draw in moviegoers to a Terminator installment anymore. Yet, the Terminator universe has almost unlimited potential for stories, if those involved are just finally willing to try something new. When it’s time for Terminator 7 to materialize, risks need to be taken. No offense to Schwarzenegger and Hamilton, who did fine in Dark Fate, but it’s time to move on from 1984 and 1991.
The Connor family needs to be out of the picture.
All the Terminator models need to be ones never seen before. The story needs to be set in a new location. At this point the saga of John and Sarah Connor has become an albatross to the franchise, as has its obsessive need to find an excuse to include Schwarzenegger. The old isn’t proving successful with audiences anymore, so it’s time to focus on the new. That’s not to say there shouldn’t be any connections to the other movies, or that they should be erased, but those connections shouldn’t be the focus. The Terminator franchise needs to embrace a future that hasn’t yet been written if it wants to live.