Since its debut in 1984, the Terminator franchise has become one of the most popular sci-fi series there is. Helping to kick off the mainstreaming of the cyber-punk aesthetic in the mid-80s, the franchise helped catapult Arnold Schwarzenegger to stardom, all while spawning five films and a short-lived TV show. Seven years after the first movie, T2: Judgement Day proved to be an even bigger hit. And while 2003’s Rise of the Machines wasn’t looked upon kindly, it still managed to do well at the box office.
From there, however, Schwarzenegger went on to become Governor of California, but the franchise continued along. Salvation saw the series given a soft reboot, and even featured a CGI cameo from its former star. While it did alright at the box office, plans to move forward in the new world never manifested. From there, all eyes turned to 2015’s Genisys, which looked to recapture past glory by bringing back the franchise’s lead. Despite doing well at the box office, however, the dire critical reception put plans for Terminator 6 on hold.
New York Daily News is now reporting that its source has revealed to them that not only is Terminator 6 not moving forward, but Schwarzenegger has no plans of continuing with the franchise:
“It is over for ‘The Terminator’ and Arnold. The studio has taken the sequel off the production slate completely, meaning there is no preproduction or any plans for another sequel. The talent had been offered long term deals, but this is not happening.”
While this news may not seem too shocking, word did break early this year that James Cameron is returning to the Terminator franchise for a reboot. He has since argued that a relevant Terminator film can still be made, making the possibility of Terminator 6 seem all the more likely. Long before the Cameron news, however, Paramount had already removed a Genisys sequel from its schedule. The next blow came when Emilie Clarke stated she was done playing Sarah Conner, and the movie went dark. Despite the Cameron project appearing to be a new film, it looks as if the failure of Genisys was too much for the franchise to overcome:
“The Genisys movie was seen as a way of reviving (the franchise), but the critics were not happy and somehow the studio bosses fell out of love with making more, even though they made huge profits.”
For fans of the franchise, this will come as two separate bits of bad news. While Schwarzenegger not returning to the franchise is a bummer, it can survive without him, as it gets harder to conceivably involve him the older he gets. Given the way franchises work, it was always a matter of time before things moved forward with a fresh cast. Still, Terminator 6 would have ostensibly been the third attempt at reworking the franchise, so it’s hardly surprising that it didn’t take off. For fans of the series, though, that means it could be a good, long while before the studio – or a different one – attempts another film with the Terminator name attached.
