- Here's what "Terminator: Dark Fate's"
box office bomb means for the franchise.
While "Terminator: Dark Fate"
was number one on the big screen this weekend,
it's $29 million domestic
and $102 million overseas haul,
we're far, far below expectations
for its opening weekend.
And now, industry analysts are expecting
that it may lose up to $100 million total
at the box office.
Can you imagine just losing that amount of money?
That's not like 20 bucks falling out of your pants
in the laundry,
that's 100 million dollars.
And while this is all film industry insider baseball,
this news does have fans wondering,
what's next for the "Terminator" franchise?
Now in case you missed it,
"Dark Fate" was an attempt at course correction,
in that it's a sequel to the beloved
"Terminator Two: Judgment Day",
and it completely ignores the events
of "Terminator Three: Rise of the Machines",
"Terminator Salvation", and "Terminator Genisys".
You know, kind of like what they did
with the latest "Halloween" reboot with Jamie Lee Curtis.
And yes, it's canonically pronounced Genisys.
What are you gonna do, go back and watch it
and tell me I'm wrong?
No, you're not.
However, while "Terminator Dark Fate"
got favorable reviews and reactions
from both critics and audiences,
most calling it the best "Terminator"
since Arnold gave that molten metal thumbs up back in 1991,
it seems that this wasn't enough
to get fans to forget the series past missteps
and plant their butts in theater seats.
Now couple that with the last few entries
in the franchise underperforming
and leaving a bad taste in fan's mouths,
it begs the question, could this be the end
of the "Terminator" franchise?
Well to be honest, no, probably not.
These movies continue to be made,
because the intellectual property
and the franchise remains strong,
not only domestically, but internationally.
But we would imagine,
that much like these metal killing machines themselves,
the franchise will have to make some changes
and evolve to match the habits of modern audiences.
And in our minds, here are the three moves
the "Terminator" franchise should make
if they want to live in the future.
Come with us, if you want to make money at the box office.
- Wow, he's really terrific.
- Now the first is, to let it rest for a while.
I mean, ever since T3
we've gotten a new Terminator film
every four to six years.
"Rise of the Machines" in 2003, "Salvation" in 2009,
"Genisys" in 2015, and now "Dark Fate" in 2019.
There's not enough time between entries
and the bad taste from each previous iteration,
it's still fresh in our proverbial palates.
Now letting these films stop for a while
to regain their nostalgic appeal, that's kind of crucial.
A prime example of this is "Jurassic Park".
While "Jurassic Park Three" in 2001
was considered to be sort of
the diminishing returns point of the series
and what made the original great,
the series took a long nap.
They went into Amber,
only to return in 2015 with "Jurassic World".
Fans were given enough time to forget
all about that kid collecting jars of dinosaur piss,
even if I had to remember it.
So when the series came back,
audiences were ready for a new film,
and they showed up in droves at the cinema.
The second thing that the "Terminator" franchise can do
is really get back to its roots.
So what is a "Terminator" film at its base?
It's an unstoppable killer robot going against humans
who are definitely in an underdog position.
While "Terminator Genisys" did this on the surface,
it tripped over itself by trying to tie in
all of the overly complicated,
this time travel mythology
and all the rules they've set up,
and it basically just fell flat on its face.
"Terminator Dark Fate" also attempted to do this
by jettisoning some of the baggage the franchise has built,
but it still remains a sequel
to "Terminator Two" at its heart.
What we're pitching here, is a new original story.
And while we all loved seeing Linda Hamilton back
as Sarah Connor and Arnold Schwarzenegger back
as Arnold Schwarzenegger but a robot,
maybe it's time for all new faces.
And the third fix for the Terminator
is to really question
where this franchise is best suited.
Basically, does it still belong on the big screen?
Now audience habits have changed a ton,
since the first "Terminator" came out in the 1980's.
I mean, TV's become this cultural touchstone,
and the medium can now handle
blockbuster film level storytelling.
Even big franchises like "Star Wars"
and "Lord of the Rings" are in the TV game right now
with the upcoming Mandalorian series on Disney Plus
and "Lord of the Rings" coming to Amazon.
Other franchises seem to be playing around
with their formats as well.
Look at "Jurassic World" and "Alien",
they both recently made short films
that feel like they're testing the waters
of how audiences would react
to different storytelling mediums.
In fact, there's been several rumors
that an "Alien" TV show is being developed for Hulu.
A new "Terminator" show could take the form
of like an eight episode season
or a limited series with tight scripting,
so they could breathe new life into this franchise.
Something that concentrates
on telling a dynamic and compelling story
that'll bring fans back on board,
of course, with killer robots stuck in humans in the past.
And a TV outing wouldn't be a first for "Terminator".
A lot of fans really loved
the Sarah Connor Chronicles on FOX,
even though it was canceled in its second season.
So while the "Terminator" franchise seems
to have been caught flat footed,
it's nowhere near the end for this vaunted IP
in sci-fi history.
There are definite ways for it to move forward,
and we would definitely be interested in seeing
where things could go from here.
But what do you folks think?
Did you end up seeing "Terminator: Dark Fate"?
Would you watch a new "Terminator" TV show?
And if you could have seen
any of your favorite movies turned into a TV show,
what would you pick and why?
"Lethal Weapon", "Fargo", "The Karate Kid"?
I mean those could happen.
Oh what, what's that, they've already happened?
And there's even more coming?
Oh my god, let's discuss.
Thank you so much for watching.
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(sci-fi music)
(pencil writes)