Welp, it looks like the disappointing performance of Terminator: Genisys may have been the secret to killing Skynet all along. Before the release of the film, David Ellison of Skydance Productions, which produced the sci-fi/action title, was adamant that there was going to be a whole new universe built around the murderous machines, including two more movies and a TV show. Everyone seemed on board, including Paramount CEO Brad Grey and Jerry Bruckheimer, with whom Ellison is working on a Top Gun reboot.
Alas, the film opened with $27 million and didn’t manage to break $100 million domestically, which stung quite a bit. The film fared far better overseas but it still wasn’t enough to wow execs and, as a result, all plans on expanding the Terminator universe have been put on indefinite hold.
THR states that an insider is a bit more optimistic, stating, “…He is the quickest learner I have seen in the business. He acknowledges his mistakes, as opposed to other people who don’t.”
While I think the Terminator universe is awesome and has a ton of potential, I think continually using Arnold Schwarzenegger and the John Connor mythos is getting really old and played out. There are so many other ways you can approach that world and make things interesting. Here’s a big problem, for example: While we saw other survivors in Terminator: Salvation, it wasn’t enough for me to go, “Oh yeah! The human rebellion against the machine uprising makes sense!” Instead, it feels like there are a few people with Connor and that’s it.
You want to draw my interest? Show me other groups surviving and struggling. That’ll hook me. That’ll get me into theaters. But creating super weird time lines that make no sense in the grand scheme of things? Yeah, I’m not buying it.