Hollywood loves a sequel, but in the case of the Terminator this particular robot horse may have been flogged to death.
Despite the return of James Cameron, Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger – Terminator Dark Fate is on track of making just US$27 million this weekend. The film cost around US$185 million to produce (as well as a couple million more in marketing).
Technically, this makes it the worst performing Terminator in the franchise’s history.
This is the third attempt to revive the Terminator series of movies. The first from McG starring Christian Bale earned around US$375 million (on a US$200 million budget) while Alan Taylor’s Terminator: Genysis (which starred Emilia Clark) took just US$89 million in the US.
Dark Fate attempts to reinvigorate the franchise with a similar model to the Star Wars reboot movies. It stars a little-known cast but with big-name franchise favourites (like Schwarzenegger) coming along for the ride to pass the torch on to a new generation.
This is different from the last film (involving time travel) and the Bale’s which was set in a dark future.
Ultimately, it seems this time around audiences have gotten tired of constant re-invention, and really can’t be bothered.
So does Dark Fate mark the end of the Terminator franchise? Probably not.
Should it? Audiences seem to have decided what they think the fate of the franchise should be.
