For Deadpool 2 and Tim Miller, it looked as though the stars had aligned.
Bolstered by the barnstorming success of the original, 20th Century Fox quickly issued the go-ahead on a Deadpool sequel, one which would expand the scale and scope to welcome both Cable (Infinity War‘s Josh Brolin) and Domino (Zazie Beetz) into the fray. So far, so good…until creative differences pushed Miller away from Fox’s mutant-verse and toward The Terminator.
But it turns out Tim Miller always had one eye trained on the sci-fi series, after the filmmaker told The Hollywood Reporter that he fully intended to spearhead James Cameron’s “three-film reinvention” regardless of whether he wound up directing Deadpool 2 or not. As for why he vacated the director’s chair and sought out greener pastures, it seems Miller was seemingly on the hunt for a new challenge.
I felt like there was more stories to tell there, but I’m happy that somebody else is telling them. There was a sense of relief in that I get to do something new versus Deadpool 2. I think it would’ve been a great movie, but it was also going to be a continuation of what we had done. This really gave me a chance to do something new.
It’s fascinating to hear Miller reflect on what could have been. But make no mistake, while the filmmaker always wanted to helm Deadpool 2, it seems The Terminator was beginning to poke its metallic head over the horizon regardless.
I feel like there was so much more to be done with these characters. I mean, I wanted to make Deadpool 2. I was going to do that, until I wasn’t. So, there was that, which took up about seven months of my time. But even then, David [Ellison, who has the rights to the Terminator franchise] and I were talking, like after Deadpool 2, it was going to be this [Terminator].
Pitched as a Terminator reboot for the 21st century, Tim Miller and Co. will begin shooting the franchise’s sixth instalment in the spring, presumably ahead of a theatrical release in 2019. Deadpool 2, meanwhile, has placed its crosshairs on July 1st, 2018.