James Cameron Admits He’s ’In Discussion’ To Relaunch ‘Terminator’ Franchise And Reveals What He’d Do Different This Time

James Cameron admitted he’s “in discussion” to relaunch the “Terminator” franchise, which he started in 1984, after the last several sequels were box office flops.

During the 68-year-old director’s appearance on the “Smartless” podcast, the director talked about the fate of the franchise after 2019’s “Terminator: Dark Fate,” from Tim Miller, failed to capture the magic of the original. Cameron directed both the original movie and its sequel, “Terminator 2: Judgement Day,” Variety noted.

“If I were to do another ‘Terminator’ film and maybe try to launch that franchise again, which is in discussion, but nothing has been decided, I would make it much more about the AI side of it than bad robots gone crazy.”

James Cameron: “If I were to do another #Terminator film and maybe try to launch that franchise again, which is in discussion, but nothing has been decided, I would make it much more about the AI side of it than bad robots gone crazy.” https://t.co/0czmKdOQJy

— Variety (@Variety) December 20, 2022

When asked recently what he thinks went wrong with Miller’s “Dark Fate,” Cameron said he thinks that what sunk the film was bringing back both Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Deadline noted.

“I think the movie could have survived having Linda in it,” Cameron shared. “I think it could have survived having Arnold in it, but when you put Linda and Arnold in it and then, you know, she’s 60-something, he’s 70-something, all of a sudden it wasn’t your ‘Terminator’ movie, it wasn’t even your dad’s ‘Terminator’ movie, it was your granddad’s ‘Terminator’ movie. And we didn’t see that.”

“Dark Fate” has made $261 million at the box office globally. It is supposed to be the direct sequel to Cameron’s 1991 movie “Terminator 2: Judgement Day,” which is considered one of the greatest sci-fi films ever, with a lifetime adjusted box office gross of $446,188,002, per Box Office Mojo.

“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” from 2003 didn’t do nearly as well domestically but when the international numbers are figured its box office gross stands at $433,371,112. The fourth film in the series, 2009’s “Terminator Salvation,” earned globally at the box office $371,353,001, the movie outlet noted. The fifth installment of the franchise, 2015’s “Terminator Genisys,” generated a lot less interest than its predecessors domestically with only $89 million, but achieved a worldwide gross of $440,603,537. “Dark Fate” currently stands at $261,119,292 at the box office worldwide, earning around $62 million domestically.