The Terminator made Arnold Schwarzenegger a star and the franchise has a sequel that is seen by many as being even better than the original. Both films are among the best sci-fi movies of all time, but the various sequels that have come since then have failed to live up to those early expectations. There will almost certainly be another Terminator sequel one day, but Arnold says he won’t be in it, and he doesn’t have very nice things to say about the most recent films.
Speaking with THR, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who last appeared as the T-800 in 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate, is asked if the franchise is over and done. The actor says that he doesn’t believe we’ve seen the last of The Terminator as a franchise, but he does say we’ve seen the last of him as The Terminator. He also throws some shade at the last two films in the series, admitting that they had serious flaws. The actor said…
The franchise is not done. I’m done. I got the message loud and clear that the world wants to move on with a different theme when it comes to The Terminator. Someone has to come up with a great idea. The Terminator was largely responsible for my success, so I always would look at it very fondly. The first three movies were great. Number four [Salvation] I was not in because I was governor. Then five [Genisys] and six [Dark Fate] didn’t close the deal as far as I’m concerned. We knew that ahead of time because they were just not well written.
While it might be a bit brutal to call out the Terminator sequels as “not well written,” I’m not sure that too, many people would disagree. Terminator: Genisys was a bomb no matter how you look at it. Dark Fate actually reviewed quite a bit better, perhaps indicating that the writing wasn’t all that bad. The problem there was that nobody went to see it. Dark Fate flopped at the box office.
That may be why there was a feeling that maybe The Terminator was done as a franchise. At the end of the day, it matters less if the movie is good or bad, it matters if people will spend money to watch it. Whatever the reason, Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to believe that people aren’t going to spend money to watch him be the Terminator yet again, so he’s done with that.
Arnold is probably right, that the Terminator franchise is not done. While there are no current plans, as far as we know, for a new entry, considering how often Hollywood goes back to the well it seems unlikely it will be too many more years before an attempt is made. Maybe something entirely different is what’s needed to make the series relevant again. Dark Fate went heavy on nostalgia, even bringing back Linda Hamilton alongside Schwarzenegger. Since that didn't work, maybe go the other direction.
