No matter what you think of the recent Terminator sequels, one thing is undeniably true: general audiences haven’t really cared. Each time a sequel is released, and there have been three over the past 15 years, the domestic gross drops drastically with 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate grossing only $62 million. Nevertheless, franchise creator James Cameron is working on something new in his dystopian sci-fi world, and he believes he can fix those diminishing returns.
“This is the moment when you jettison everything that is specific to the last 40 years of Terminator, but you live by those principles,” Cameron told Empire. “You get too inside it, and then you lose a new audience because the new audience care much less about that stuff than you think they do. That’s the danger, obviously, with Avatar as well, but I think we’ve proven that we have something for new audiences.”
What specifically does that mean? Well, no more returning actors. No more returning characters. Take the bare bones of the franchise, the things that made it resonate in the first place, and go from there. Cameron broke it down: “You’ve got powerless main characters, essentially, fighting for their lives, who get no support from existing power structures, and have to circumvent them but somehow maintain a moral compass. And then you throw AI into the mix,” he said. “Those principles are sound principles for storytelling today, right? So I have no doubt that subsequent Terminator films will not only be possible, but they’ll kick ass. But this is the moment where you jettison all the specific iconography.”
If you’re wondering why Cameron is talking about new Terminator movies in the first place, here’s the recap. For over a year, the filmmaker has been teasing that he has some new ideas for the franchise and believes new projects will be coming (in addition to the new Netflix show). He’s still being rather guarded about what that might mean but, apparently, it’s slightly more developed than we may have assumed. “It’s more than a plan,” Cameron said. “That’s what we’re doing. That’s all I’ll say for right now.” Could there be an outline to this thing? A script even? We’ll have to wait and see.
All the above quotes come from an extensive new interview Cameron did about the 40th anniversary of The Terminator in Empire Magazine. Head there for more.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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