Things haven’t been looking too good for the Terminator franchise lately. Most would agree that the last enjoyable instalment was the second one, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which released back in 1991. Since then, we’ve had Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys, all of which failed to impress critics and fans. As such, the future of the iconic sci-fi series has been thrown into flux, but some promising news arrived earlier this year when it was reported that James Cameron was stepping in to save the day.
Yes, that’s right, good ol’ Jimmy is now attached to produce a reboot with Deadpool director Tim Miller at the helm. That’s a hugely exciting duo and might just spell some good news for the once great franchise. However, all’s been quiet lately and the last update we got on the project was back in March when we heard that there was a big announcement on the way, expected to arrive at some point in 2017.
Nothing’s materialized as of yet, and we don’t know exactly when it will, but after much back and forth, we can at least confirm now that Arnold Schwarzenegger will be back for more. Screen Daily caught up with the actor at Cannes and asked him if the reboot was still a go, to which he replied: “It is moving forward. He [Cameron] has some good ideas of how to continue with the franchise. I will be in the movie.”
Unfortunately, Arnie wouldn’t reveal much more than that, and with this next Terminator film still in the very early stages of development, it’s doubtful that he even knows too much about what direction it’ll head in. After all, there’s been next to no news about it and all we can confirm right now is that Schwarzenegger, Cameron and Miller are all involved. Which also means that we can expect some top-tier talent to be recruited into the cast – though that won’t be for some time.
A few months back, producer David Ellison mentioned that the next chapter of the Terminator franchise would be a “continuation of what the fans really wanted since T2,“ which is promising but also very vague. Still, with James Cameron back on board, we can at least rest easy knowing that the project is in good hands. Not to mention that Miller is a VFX whiz, and combined with Cameron’s knowledge of the field, we’ve no doubt that this new film will be truly dazzling and an absolute visual feast, no matter which direction it ends up taking creatively.
So, there you have it; the war between humanity and Skynet rages on, but it remains to be seen exactly what Ellison is teasing and what it means for the new reboot. Regardless of what’s being planned here, the idea of having Arnie back with Cameron for another Terminator movie is very exciting and though it’s still too early to say for sure, we’ve got a pretty good feeling that the next chapter in the sci-fi saga will be the return to form that fans have been waiting for.