One way to potentially revive the franchise
Wait several years and make a medium budget dark themed excellent character development with less action, no new Terminators etc. but more soul. Something similar they did to X-Men with Logan.
shareThey almost pulled that off with Salvation, which is why I like that more than any other offering after T2.
shareBut didn't they spend $200 million on Salvation -the marketing campaign?
shareWhut? Salvation was a horrendous movie. Nobody gives a shit about the future war.
shareI totally disagree - I think most fans always wanted to see the future war.
shareAlthough I never watched Salvation in the cinema (I was Terminator-ed out by then (terminated?)), if they'd have executed the future war better, it could still be a viable movie or series. If it was mostly set at night and with an 80s aesthetic like in the flashbacks in the first movie. And preferably with a less major star than someone like Christian Bale. Although he was great in pretty much everything else, I'd rather see someone with less ties to a previous big franchise like Bale had with Batman which kind of overwhelmed Salvation being a Terminator movie first and foremost, imo.
As I wrote this, I just thought Frank Grilo might make a good older John Connor, I haven't watched the first Teeminator in years, but I think there was a slight resemblance to him in the flashbacks scenes. While he's quite well known for the Purge movies (also largely set at night now I think of it), I could see him fitting in the world of Terminator, he's a recognizable face, but like in the case of the Purge movies the concept and world are still the main draw of the movie. Another similar badass type might be Jon Bernthal, but I could see Grillo fitting more the military leader type.
Another idea, I don't know if either actor would be interested now, but another story could be have an alternate timeline where Kyle and John are still alive but instead Sarah Connor is dead in their timeline (either a Skynet or Legion one) having died shortly after John's birth and they crossover into this one and interact with her. I don't know if that's even possible the way time travel works in the Terminator universe, but I'm sure they could write around it, maybe even factor in two-way time travel as the story dictates, it could open up a lot more possibilities.
Lastly, just use side characters doing separate missions but alluding to events of the previous movies without using any of the main characters, the Dark Horse comics from the 90s were quite good in that respect, it made the world feel bigger.
No more time travel please! "The Terminator" made it clear that time was closed-loop. Even T2 is guilty of messing it up a little bit.
Salvation was terrible. They should have taken the first moments of The Terminator, and made it into a movie. It did not have a "humans are awesome" or "robot fx ftw yay" kind of vibe. It was desperation. Show us famine, disease, the horrible conditions. Show us humans dwelling in ruins, shivering with cold, but too afraid to light a fire. Make us afraid of war. That was what the first movie was about.
And definitely don't cast underwear models as resistance fighters. These people are hungry, battle worn, full of mental scars and fears. After The Terminator, no movie in the franchise ever got that right again.