With Terminator Genisys being about as well received as a naked time traveller walking into a red neck biker bar, I think we all assumed the franchise, and the new trilogy that was to start with Genisys, was done with. But looking at the box office numbers, it actually did quite well for itself with a $440 million worldwide gross off a budget of $155 million (it’s worth noting $90 million of that came from America, shedding light on the importance of foreign markets in this day and age). Sequels have been green lit off less, so there is every chance of a follow-up to Genisys. But with the rebooted timeline of that movie, and the drastic changes it brought to the beloved franchise, raising the fans ire the most, will there be an audience there for it? That’s the question the movie’s production company, Skydance, is asking themselves.
Speaking at The Wrap’s 6th Annual Media Leadership Conference, their Media Chief Creative Officer Dana Goldberg saying, “I wouldn’t say on hold, so much as re-adjusting”. This is movie speak we’re hearing more and more of lately (the up-coming Halloween reboot is said to be a ‘re-caibration’), and just seems to mean that the studio are listening to complaints from audiences and trying to change and compensate accordingly. Goldberg admits as much herself, saying Skydance ‘will use data and research to a worldwide study and really talk audiences about what they loved, and what maybe didn’t work for them, so the next we take with the franchise is the right one”. But will this approach work? In the end, Skydance seem to be trying to please everyone, and in the end they could end up pleasing none. What’s worse, they could end up alienating one of the two audiences, the old school Terminator fans and a new breed of fandom, they are trying to appeal to, losing one while trying to appease the other.
What say you? What are thoughts on the future of the Terminator franchise? Sound off below.
