In “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” there’s this dream that haunts Sarah Connor daily, with images of a huge nuclear bomb going off in a city and the population turning to ash in the blast. It’s a peek at what Judgment Day might look like, and how quickly the world, as we know it, can cease to exist. In 2019, that cataclysmic bomb went off in the ‘Terminator’ franchise, and its name is ‘Dark Fate.’
After a box office debut weekend that not only was softer than expected, but actually worse than anyone would have predicted, “Terminator: Dark Fate” might have done what the three previous sequels weren’t able to — terminate the James Cameron franchise. And sadly, ‘Dark Fate’ isn’t even the worst of the sequels, not by a long shot. However, perhaps because of the cumulative effort of every previous sequel, ‘Dark Fate’ not only bombed at the box office but will reportedly cost the studios involved approximately $120 million, signaling the end of the sci-fi/action franchise.
READ MORE: The ‘Terminator’ Franchise Suffers A ‘Dark Fate’ With A Terrible Box Office Debut
According to THR, not only will ‘Dark Fate’ cost a huge sum of money for folks like Paramount, Skydance, and 20th Century Fox (now, Disney), who each control 30% financial stake in the film, but the IP might actually be completely dead. The report claims that Skydance, who holds the rights to the film has no plans for a new ‘Terminator’ film at this point.
Sure, we’ve heard similar stories previously, particularly with how badly 2016’s “Terminator: Genisys” fared in rebooting the franchise. But ‘Dark Fate’ is completely different, as this was the franchise’s clear last-ditch effort to keep ‘Terminator’ going. The film not only wiped away all previous post- ‘T2’ sequels, but actually brought back both Linda Hamilton to star and James Cameron to help write and shape the film. Alas, it clearly wasn’t enough.
And much like CGI, De-aged Edward Furlong, the new sequel had all the hope in the world but ultimately couldn’t outrun its own inevitable fate. Now, the ‘Terminator’ franchise isn’t just in trouble, but might actually be completely dead.