It's no secret that the Terminator franchise has had a rough time ever since director James Cameron departed. While those first two movies are considered to be cinema classics, both in the sci-fi realm and pop culture overall, the later three movies have ranged from okay to just awful. The most recent entry, 2015's Terminator Genisys, was so poorly critically received that plans for a follow-up were scrapped, and the franchise has been dormant since. Now it's being reported that James Cameron is jumping back into this world of killer robots to help end the series once and for all.
James Cameron will regain certain rights to the Terminator franchise in 2019, and according to Deadline, he's prepping to "godfather" a new iteration of the movie that is described as both a reboot and conclusion to the series. While Cameron won't be the one directing the new Terminator movie, he's in early talks with Deadpool director Tim Miller to helm it. David Ellison, the CEO of Skydance Media, which paid for Terminator Genisys, is working to find major science fiction authors to "find the movie creatively," which I suspect means something along the lines of a writers room.
James Cameron has cemented himself as one of the top Hollywood directors for movies like Aliens, Titanic and Avatar, but it was Terminator that put him on the proverbial map. Along with directing 1984's The Terminator, he also wrote the screenplay, and the end result exceeded expectations. Cameron also wrote and directed Terminator 2: Judgement Day, which saw Arnold Schwarzenegger's iteration of the cyborg assassin as a hero rather than villain. Since then, Cameron hasn't had any involvement with the series, and considering how busy he is with the Avatar movies, it's hard to imagine how he'll have any time to assist with Terminator.
Terminator Genisys was intended to kick off a new era for the Terminator franchise that rebooted the series similar to the current Star Trek movies. While the movie made a killing in China, it didn't fare nearly as well in the United States either critically or commercially. By the beginning of 2016, Paramount had removed Terminator 6 off of its schedule, and a few months later, Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke said she would not reprise Sarah Connor for any sequels. Given how reception to the non-James Cameron helmed Terminator movies has been lukewarm at best, it's probably for the best that this new movie will conclude the saga. As for Tim Miller, he's been in a visual effects artist for years, and his director debut with Deadpool was extremely well-received, so he would be an interesting choice to helm the new Terminator movie. Miller is also executive producing the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie.
We'll keep you apprised on how this new Terminator movie is progressing as more news comes in, but for now, let us know what you think of James Cameron re-joining the franchise and Tim Miller potentially directing this installment in the comments below.
