Just because Arnold Schwarzenegger has purportedly bid adieu to the legendary franchise doesn’t necessarily mean The Terminator is dead – far from it, in fact, with Skydance head honcho David Ellison revealing to Collider that the series has “an incredibly bright future.”
Not only that, but Ellison went on to tease a major franchise announcement for 2017, indicating that James Cameron and Tim Miller’s nebulous reboot may well be further along than many had anticipated. That’s merely conjecture for now, though, considering that we only learned of said revival two months ago. Couple this with Cameron’s ongoing commitment to his 27 Avatar sequels and one would assume that it’s still too early in the project’s lifecycle to warrant an announcement.
Even still, while chatting to Collider, Ellison stressed that this news “is the direction [The Terminator] needs to head,” which is exciting in and of itself. After scrapping plans for a trilogy of Genisys movies, Skydance has evidently done some soul-searching when it comes to the future of the series, and at least based on Ellison’s status report, fans can retain a sense of cautious optimism.
“I will say we have resolved the future of the franchise and believe me it’s an incredibly bright future. I think where it’s going will be the continuation of what the fans really wanted since T2. We have something this year that we will be announcing for the franchise. It’s something we’re incredibly excited about and we think is the direction it needs to head.”
So, there you have it; the war between humanity and Skynet rages on in 2017, but it remains to be seen exactly what Ellison is teasing here. Chances are that said announcement will involve James Cameron and Tim Miller’s embryonic franchise revival in some capacity, but it’s surely too early to lock down a specific release date for the project, considering that there’s been nary a mention of story or potential casting. Either way, what do you make of David Ellison’s status report on The Terminator? Drop your thoughts, comments and concerns in the usual spot below.