The Terminator franchise is dead at Paramount

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Paramount Pictures had intended 2015's TERMINATOR: GENISYS to be the start of a new TERMINATOR trilogy, with sequels scheduled to come out on May 19, 2017 and June 29, 2018. You may have noticed that no sequel has been put into production to make that 2017 release date, and if you were wondering if Paramount was planning to get anything TERMINATOR out in 2018, the answer is no.

The New York Daily News has been told that

It is over for ‘The Terminator' and Arnold. The studio has taken the sequel off the production slate completely, meaning there is no preproduction or any plans for another sequel. The talent had been offered long term deals, but this is not happening. 

The Genisys movie was seen as a way of reviving (the franchise), but the critics were not happy and somehow the studio bosses fell out of love with making more, even though they made huge profits."

Given the poor reception TERMINATOR: GENISYS got (a 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, a total of just $89 million at the domestic box office), I don't think anyone was really expecting Paramount to produce any sequels to that film at this point, despite the $440 million worldwide total. This report seems to confirm that TERMINATOR is dead at Paramount.

If you're a fan of THE TERMINATOR, however, you probably don't have to worry about the franchise's future. The rights to the series revert to creator James Cameron in 2019, and Cameron is already planning to team up with Skydance Productions on a new TERMINATOR film that he hopes to have DEADPOOL's Tim Miller direct.

So we have that project to look forward to, we just have to wait a couple more years for the rights to be securely in Cameron's hands.

I can't say I'm bummed to hear that GENISYS won't be getting a sequel. I didn't like that movie very much. Nor did I like 2009's TERMINATOR: SALVATION, which was a failed attempt at starting a trilogy at Warner Bros. I'm not too fond of TERMINATOR 3, either… At least T2 worked out.