The Terminator franchise is set to come back in a big way. At the beginning of this year, it had been announced that James Cameron would spend his non-Avatar time producing a new Terminator movie. Directed by Tim Miller, the installment, Terminator 6, will see the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton who last appeared in Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
Most Terminator fans will say that there is no beating James Cameron’s two films. Terminator and Terminator 2 have thrived as science fiction classics, and they make an excellent duology. While Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines did not earn acclaim its predecessors did, it received positive reviews on its release in 2003. Terminator series has tried to set up stories to last a trilogy, but that has not been accomplished.
6 years later, Terminator attempted to reboot the franchise Star Trek-style with Sarah Connor with an older Terminator and having the two and Kyle Reese travel to 2017 to stop Skynet to discover that John Connor had been turned into T-3000. Genisys earned the worst reviews, and even with the help of Chinese box office, it could not break even.
Which brings us to Terminator 6, which fans know will ignore events of Terminator Genisys. Plot details have not been revealed other than the fact that it will involve Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor being alive and Arnold Schwarzenegger playing the man who inspires T-800 model.
The Terminator franchise has really tried to launch new trilogies twice, and both have failed. Some of the fans may ascribe to “the third time is the charm,” but not all franchises are meant to go on.
The Terminator franchise likes to present Judgement Day as an inevitability. No matter what changes are made to the timeline, time finds a way to correct itself and make sure A.I. becomes sentient and launches nukes. But after 3 decades, it is time for the Terminator series to retire. Arnold Schwarzenegger is not getting any younger, and it is at a point where even though he is in good shape for a man of his age, he cannot be the primary face of the robotic menaces.
If James Cameron and his partners are eager to keep the Terminator mythology alive in a way that is separate from the main canon, we suggest moving to television. Then again, given how much TV has changed since Sarah Connor Chronicles was cancelled, a Terminator show may find success on cable or a streaming service. Giving the public a movie that echoes the two Terminator movies rather than follow-ups is the goal to strive.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates on what’s happening with Terminator 6 as they come in, and don’t forget to look through our 2017 and 2018 movie premiere guides to see what’s heading to theaters over the next year.
