Terminator: A Complete TV Reboot Is The Only Thing Left For The Franchise
Since movie reboots keep failing, it's time for Terminator to return to the land of TV for a complete reinvention. In the Hollywood system of today, there's nothing more precious than an established franchise, a piece of IP that can be drawn on again and again in the hopes of bringing back an existing fanbase. That's not in itself a bad thing, as hit franchises like the MCU and James Bond prove. Still, few franchises have fallen farther than Terminator.
Director James Cameron's 1984 original Terminator movie, and its 1991 sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day, are widely regarded as all-time classics. They're excellent blends of sci-fi, action, and sometimes horror, and they're films that hold up extremely well decades after release, even if the stop-motion effects in the first movie are a bit underwhelming by modern standards. Unfortunately, there have been four Terminator movies and a TV series made since, and while some have their devotees, none come close to Cameron's classics.
What's worse, 2009's Terminator Salvation, 2015's Terminator Genisys, and 2019's Terminator: Dark Fate were all designed ahead of time not only to serve as reboots of the flagging Terminator franchise, but to kick off new trilogies. Needless to say, all three failed to become hits critically, commercially, or both, leaving their accompanying trilogies dead in the water. Yet, Terminator will return. The first two movies just have too much cultural cache. After three failed reboots though, it's time to reboot Terminator for real, and this time have the action unfold on the small screen, and not in theaters.
After the failures of Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys, it's fair to say that overall opinion of the Terminator franchise wasn't exactly high. That led those involved with Terminator: Dark Fate to go all out in order to try and win back audiences. Franchise creator James Cameron returned as an executive producer, and a very hands-on one at that. Tim Miller, helmer of 2016 hit Deadpool, was hired to direct. After nearly 30 years, Linda Hamilton agreed to reprise her iconic role of Sarah Connor. To put icing on the cake, Arnold Schwarzenegger was again back as a T-800, this time one nicknamed Carl.
While many would argue that Terminator: Dark Fate made some bad story-related choices, such as the shocking death of John Connor in the opening minutes of the movie, that doesn't explain why the opening weekend box office sank like a stone. Even before seeing Dark Fate, most people made the decision not to bother with it, despite the returns of Cameron, Hamilton, and Schwarzenegger. If getting that trinity of legends back into the franchise wasn't enough to entice fans into the theater, clearly the damage done to the Terminator brand by Salvation and Genisys was more than Hollywood had realized. While the Terminator franchise certainly won't stay dead, when it does come back after some time off, Dark Fate's flop proves that it's time for some drastic changes to the formula. It's time for a new story, with new characters, and also, for that story to play out in the ever-growing venue of prestige streaming TV.
Another good omen for a potential Terminator reboot on TV is that the last time the sci-fi/action franchise made the journey to the small screen, it earned a lot of appreciative followers. Airing on FOX from 2008-2009, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles took place in an alternate continuity in which a few years after Terminator 2, Sarah and John Connor end up time-hopping to the then-present day with the help of a reprogrammed Terminator named Cameron. While it only lasted two seasons, and ratings weren't great, the critical response to the show was actually pretty good, as was much of the response from Terminator diehards. Of course, it helped that future Game of Thrones star Lena Headey played Sarah.
If anything, one of the biggest issues that prevented The Sarah Connor Chronicles from truly living up to its potential was broadcast network content standards, which prevented the R-rated violence and gore found in most of the movies. The Terminator movies have rarely pulled their punches in that regard, but The Sarah Connor Chronicles actually introduced a plot hole just for censorship reasons. That's why if and when another Terminator TV show happens, this reboot needs to be on a streamer like Netflix, HBO Max, or Hulu, somewhere that won't put up roadblocks when it comes to the harsh realities of war between mankind and Skynet's machines.
There was a time not that long ago when a clear line was often drawn between the world of movies and the world of TV shows. Working on the big screen was seen as the ultimate goal, and much more prestigious than working on TV projects. Today, however, that line is basically gone. The drama series made for premium cable and streaming services regularly have budgets that put movies to shame, A-list stars in the cast, and top-flight talent behind the camera and pen as well. Due to ease of access, the latest streaming shows are also often much more widely seen now than any theatrical movie release not put out by Marvel Studios.
With Dark Fate utterly bombing at the box office, it probably wouldn't be wise to go the theatrical route for the next Terminator reboot. With that in mind, making a prestige Terminator TV show for a prominent streaming service is absolutely the right move. While many fans would undoubtedly welcome James Cameron's active involvement, he isn't essential in ensuring the continued success of the brand, since playing on nostalgia clearly isn't working for Terminator anymore. It's time to get away from the story of the Connors, change up the cast, and take the basic Terminator concepts into new and innovative territory. At best, a Terminator TV reboot could be exactly what the franchise needs to rebound. At worst, it'll just be another failed experiment to add to the list of Terminator reboot attempts. Either way, it's time to take a risk, and try something outside the usual formula.