Arnold Schwarzenegger, the greatest action star on the planet, is slowly reviving his legendary career. This year, he had a supporting role in the action-packed The Expendables 2 and next year, he will star in The Last Stand (his first starring role in a decade) and The Tomb (reteaming him again with his Expendables co-star Sylvester Stallone).
Of course, there has been much talk about him returning to the role that he is most famous for: The Terminator. Schwarzenegger appeared as the titular character in 1984’s The Terminator, 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day and 1996’s T2 3D: Battle Across Time; all directed by James Cameron. While on set of T2 3D, Cameron confessed that this new ride/film would be the link between T2 and a Cameron-directed Terminator 3.
Unfortunately, Cameron moved on to Titanic and in 2003, the world got Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, directed by Jonathan Mostow. Although Schwarzenegger did return to play the Terminator and the box-office take was huge, most fans hated the new film’s lame attempts at humor and even lamer portrayal of John Connor (Nick Stahl).
Even worse was yet to come though: 2009’s Terminator Salvation, directed by Hollywood pariah McG, alienated more fans by foregoing the normal Terminator timeline, needless product placement and casting a future Oscar winner who (at the time) couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
Then the Terminator rights went up for grabs. Major studios like Sony Pictures and Lionsgate tried bidding, but ultimately lost to Annapurna Films. Throughout it all, the only constant champion for a new Terminator film has been Schwarzenegger himself, but from the sound of a recent interview, it seems as though even he’s lost hope in getting a new film made.
“I think (producer) Megan Ellison owns the rights to ‘Terminator 16,’ or whatever it is. They have been trying to put a script together but I’ve not seen it, so I’ve no idea. There’s nothing on the drawing board at this point. Nothing on the plan.”
This is definitely sad to hear, though a 65-year-old Terminator isn’t exactly menacing in any way. Even if Arnie did make his return, it’s tough to see him in the role given his age. Perhaps the animated version that was rumored a while back is the way to go? There’s also the fact that Justin Lin was also supposed to be attached to the project at one point but word on that front seems to have gone quiet.
As of now, the fate of the franchise and specifically Terminator 5 is very much up in the air. With some movie make-up magic, they could pull off a live-action film and have Arnie reprise his role but at this stage, how many people are still even excited for his return?
What do you think? Are you looking forward to Terminator 5? Or are you sick of the series at this point?