It’s one thing when you reboot, say Batman, Superman, Star Trek, etc., films that have a rich mythology to draw from whether it’s comics, TV, previous movies, etc. But it’s another when you’re rebooting a film whose only antecedent is a pre-existing movie. Does that make the upcoming "Terminator" film more of a remake than a reboot? It’s hard to say, but Paramount announced today the basic details of its Skydance/Annapurna Pictures "Terminator" movie. Once known as "Terminator 5" colloquially, Paramount revealed in a press release that the new "Terminator" film will start over in reboot form and relaunch a new trilogy. Rebooting/remaking a film isn’t hard, it’s been done countless times (see the upcoming "RoboCop" or the rather lackluster "Total Recall" for recent examples), but it is harder to pull off in a satisfying and creatively unique manner when you don’t have as much source material to work with. Then again, there are four "Terminator" films of varying quality ("Rise Of The Machines" and "Salvation" being not very good, to put it politely) which arguably have expanded the James Cameron-created universe substantially (note, rights revert back to Cameron in 2019, which is why they’re getting on this asap). Press release below. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be back as they say.
HOLLYWOOD, CA (June 27, 2013) – Skydance Productions, Annapurna Pictures and Paramount Pictures have jointly announced they will partner on a rebooted “TERMINATOR” movie, to be released by Paramount Pictures on June 26, 2015.
The first in a stand-alone trilogy, “TERMINATOR” will be produced by Megan Ellison of Annapurna and David Ellison of Skydance. Dana Goldberg and Paul Schwake of Skydance will serve as executive producers. Laeta Kalorgridis (“Avatar,” “Shutter Island”) and Patrick Lussier (“Drive Angry”) are attached to write the screenplay.
Launched in 1984 with star Arnold Schwarzenegger as the title character, “TERMINATOR” spanned 3 subsequent films, which have earned over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
David Ellison most recently executive produced, along with his partners at Paramount, “World War Z,” “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” and “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”. A 5thinstallment of in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise is in active development, along with a 3rd film in the “G.I. Joe” franchise, among other films.
Megan Ellison most recently produced the Academy Award®-nominated “Zero Dark Thirty,” “The Master” and executive produced “Spring Breakers” via her Annapurna Pictures banner and has David O. Russell’s “American Hustle,” Spike Jonze’s “Her,” and Bennett Miller’s “Foxcatcher” set for release later this year.