MovieChat Forums > Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) Discussion > Can the franchise be salvaged?

Can the franchise be salvaged?

posted 4 years ago by PrimeMinisterX (8307)
52 replies | jump to latest

With the release of Dark Fate, the whole thing is officially just a huge fucking mess.

We were good up through Salvation. T1, T2, T3, Salvation. No problem. One story.

Then we get Genisys which decided to go off and do its own thing and be a reboot of sorts, basically giving the middle finger to the first four films.

And now we get Dark Fate, which just ignores the existence of everything after T2 and acts as a sequel to T2 while ALSO being a reboot that takes the story in a whole other direction.

At this point, there's no way we'll ever get a sequel to Salvation. It's just not happening. Nor will we see a continuation of the Genisys timeline. And after Dark Fate's box office failure, I'm sure the studios will just want to forget about that one as well.

So is there any way to salvage this mess and get the series back on track? Or is it officially dead and buried, now and forever more, never to be heard from again?

[–] exithereplease (3553) 4 years ago

If you make a $200 million dollar film and your out of the top 10 in week #3. It's finished.

A flop.

It sucks. But it's done. The end game is always the same. The Terminators (robots) destroy the humans. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...

This has become Jason chasing the teens with a knife...

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8307) 4 years ago

To be fair, if any of the films resembles Jason chasing teens with a knife (albeit with a sci-fi twist) it's the very first one. So that formula was in place from the beginning.

I just don't get why Cameron or the studio or Miller thought that the way to go was to make this film as a political allegory that was sure to turn off and alienate half the prospective audience. Did that really not sound like a bad idea to them?

Just make a fun movie, man. One that everyone can enjoy. And don't make a finale that is like 98% CGI when the best entries in the series are known for their great practical effects.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

In 2 years release a sequel with Sarah waking-up in the asylum where she's been heavily drugged the past 30 years, then start over.

[–] bozo_500 (12273) 4 years ago

directed by Neil Blomkamp - Terminator: Awakening

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

lol

[–] 10200 (656) 4 years ago

I just wish I could wake up and find out it's been a bad dream.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

I can't stand these sequels that ignore other sequels. Why should we take this movie seriously since going from past history it might just be ignored in the future? The recent Halloween is guilty of this too. I'm ok with reboots, but ignoring sequels within the same canon is ridiculous.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 4 years ago

It's all over, Arnie is so past his prime and the timeline is now beyond f-cked. We've had 3 attempts to reboot this franchise and they have all failed. It's done.

[–] OvertonPendulum (4026) 4 years ago

I disagree. Salvation was a horrible movie. Worst in the series. At least T3 had Kristanna Loken

[–] conanurdevilish (73) 4 years ago

Then we get Genisys which decided to go off and do its own thing and be a reboot of sorts, basically giving the middle finger to the first four films.

And now we get Dark Fate, which just ignores the existence of everything after T2 and acts as a sequel to T2 while ALSO being a reboot that takes the story in a whole other direction.

You also forgot the Sarah Connor Chronicales TV which I know put more people off the Terminator franchise with it's fanfic writing and vibe before Salvation came out.

So is there any way to salvage this mess and get the series back on track? Or is it officially dead and buried, now and forever more, never to be heard from again?

At this point there's only a very slim chance of the franchise surviving and that's if the general audience who weren't anxious to check out Dark Fate in theatres decide to peak their curiosity and try out the movie once it hits DVD, blu ray and streaming. Only other thing that can maybe revive it is if Cameron's name is attached to direct it also, but that's a even slim chance then Dark Fate breathing second life in post theatre outings.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8307) 4 years ago

You know, I have actually heard more good things than bad about TSCC. It seems a lot of people are fans. I tried it though and didn't get more than a couple of episodes in.

I'm sure Dark Fate will pick up some additional viewers once it hits video. Whether or not many of those viewers will actually enjoy it is another matter.

It's hard for me to think that the property is actually done for good. The name recognition is just too high. But on the other hand it has proven time and again to be an underperformer at the box office and no one can seem to figure out how to make money with it, so I could see producers just giving up on it entirely.

[–] conanurdevilish (73) 4 years ago

You know, I have actually heard more good things than bad about TSCC. It seems a lot of people are fans.

The series has a extremely loyal following, but trust me, many people hated it. I was there back when IMDB still had a message board and that show was on the air. The people on the Terminator movie boards absolutely hated that show. It was two completely different audiences. Where the people who hated it were fans of the Terminator mythos, and lore created by the previous movies. TSCC fans were more along the lines of CW fans who were more interested in the characters banging Summer Glau's terminator and the stupid love triangle between John Baum, real girls and robogirls, and had little regards to the lore and technical aspects of the franchise. The fact that series went from having 18 million viewers to struggling to just keep 3 million viewers just be a good indicator who the general audience was siding with.

[–] conanurdevilish (73) 4 years ago

It's hard for me to think that the property is actually done for good. The name recognition is just too high. But on the other hand it has proven time and again to be an underperformer at the box office and no one can seem to figure out how to make money with it, so I could see producers just giving up on it entirely.

The Terminator franchise is in a tricky situation like many franchises from the 80s and 90s where it might have been a iconic franchise, but you need to tread carefully on how to approach the franchise. The only iconic franchise from that era I can think of that did it right was the Jurassic Park franchise. Say whatever you want about Jurassic World and the sequel Fallen Kingdom, but it's hard to deny the franchise didn't expand on ideas talked about in previous movies, and both JW and JWFK made over a billion dollars at the box office. Predator franchise is a good example of what not to do. Don't try and rehash a previous movie call it a sequel/soft reboot.

I thought Dark Fate was a good step in the right direction because I recall back when I was watching either TSCC or Genysis, that my main gripe with those outings is that they really need to get this franchise the hell away from the Connors because they're stifling the franchise from being able to go forward the same way making every Predator movie in the jungle/woods is stifling the Predator movies.

[–] conanurdevilish (73) 4 years ago

It should also be extremely important to mention unless you're a superhero or Disney movie, 2019 was a brutal year for movies in general. Every movie struggled to even go past the 100 million dollar mark.

[–] maximmm (3074) 4 years ago

they could do a decent series on netflix - especially if it's set in the future. If made well, I could see that reviving the films as well. But it has to have a decent script, story, actors and no more arnold, because that dude should not be in terminator films anymore.