‘I’ll be back’ – the cult line spoken by Arnold Schwarzenegger from James Cameron’s ‘Terminator’ movies never seems to get old and is relevant even today for the long-standing franchise. We say relevant because, in a recent interaction via the Smartless podcast, the maverick filmmaker has revealed about the discussions relating to yet another potential Terminator film in the works.
Yes, you heard that right. Regarding the new potential Terminator project, James Cameron has stated that “If I were to do another ‘Terminator’ film and maybe try to launch that franchise again, which is in discussion, but nothing has been decided, I would make it much more about the AI side of it than bad robots gone crazy.”
This might be a fantastic update for fans of the Terminator franchise but not so much for ultra-loyal fans of the first two Terminator films which were directed by James Cameron. The first movie ‘The Terminator’ (1984) and its sequel ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’ (1991) are still considered to be amongst the greatest action films of all time and arguably James Cameron’s finest.
On the other hand, the sequels ‘Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines’ (2003), ‘Terminator Salvation’ (2009), ‘Terminator Genisys’ (2015), and ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ (2019) failed to recreate the same magic as the first two films. In fact, they were not even close. Despite the last one ‘Dark Fate’ reuniting the parent film’s main cast namely Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton.
So, unless James Cameron himself directs the next potential Terminator movie or is heavily involved in the film’s production, it seems unlikely that the next installment will match the same high standards set by the first two films and restarting the franchise might ultimately turn out to be not such a great idea. The writing too needs to be spot on if the next Terminator movie aspires to make a dent and impress loyal franchise buffs. It’s a wait and watch game until then.