Mackenzie Davis is not confident another Terminator movie will get made after the disappointing box office performance of Terminator: Dark Fate. While promoting her new film, Irresistible, she was asked about the prospects of returning to the blockbuster franchise and said:
“I really loved the movie and I’m so proud of what we did, but there wasn’t a demand for it [at the box office] and to think that there’d be a demand for a seventh film is quite insane. You should just pay attention to what audiences want – and they want new things and I want new things,” she explained. “There are many interesting people that don’t fit the mould of those who make these big franchises who have not had the chance to make movies. We should be investing in them right now.”
She’s right about paying attention to what an audience wants. Terminator: Dark Fate earned a paltry $62 million at the domestic box office. It didn’t do much better internationally, either, earning less than $200 million. Considering the hefty price tag to make it – $185 million – the chances of us seeing another Terminator film in the short term are slim. The fact that Paramount lost more than $120 million on the project doesn’t help, either.
Dark Fate was certainly the best movie in the franchise since T2, but that’s not saying much, and in the end, the sixth installment was a bit of a disappointment. With Deadpool director Tim Miller involved, the thought was that he would make a darker Terminator movie that felt more like the first two. And in some respects, that was true. It was a direct sequel to the James Cameron films, but his over reliance on CGI was surprising considering he turned down Deadpool 2 because the movie was going to be bigger in scale.
The return of Linda Hamilton was a bright spot and the conclusion of Arnold’s character was surprisingly poignant, but that opening scene is polarizing to fans and many just couldn’t get past it. It was certainly a ballsy move by Miller and Hamilton knew it would divide audiences.
But Terminator is still a well known IP and at some point down the line, someone will make another great entry in the franchise. What needs to happen though, and what many thought Miller was going to do, is to strip down the world and return to the roots of the first movie. Make a low budget horror film but forget about Sarah and John Connor.
Terminator: Dark Fate is flawed, but in some respects, it was a great way for this incarnation of the franchise to end. Now, it’s time for new blood and new characters.