“Terminator: Dark Fate”, despite the returns of Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger on screen and that of James Cameron in production, was a crushing failure. The filmmaker returned to this failure and gave, according to him, the main reason.
The big disappointment of 2019
Sixth installment of the cult saga terminator and direct continuation of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator: Dark Fate largely disappointed. Released in 2019, directed by Tim Miller and with the return of Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger in their iconic roles, the film garnered average reviews and above all only collected $ 260 million in box office revenue worldwide. A largely insufficient performance in view of a budget amounting to 185 million dollars, not counting the costs incurred for its promotion…
Failure is all the more painful Terminator: Dark Fate signs the return of James Cameron, creator of the saga and director of the first two films, to the production as well as the screenplay, in which he collaborates. While he had been absent from the three previous films, his return was therefore a priori a guarantee of quality. Alas, the filming of Terminator: Dark Fate is complicated, with real-time script rewriting, and the collaboration between James Cameron and Tim Miller goes badly.
Recently, in an interview given to Deadline, James Cameron returned to the failure of the film. And before explaining personally assume a large parthe wants to take stock of his relationship with Tim Miller.
“I loved Tim before the movie, not much during it, and I love him again”
The two men did not hide it, the atmosphere was very bad between them during the production of Terminator: Dark Fate. Between the director of Titanic And the one of Dead Pool, the artistic differences were such that at the end of 2019, Tim Miller said he never wanted to work with James Cameron again. But, rest assured, water has flowed under the bridge and the two men are now reconciled, as explained by James Cameron.
Tim and I had our fights and we talked about it, and the crazy thing is, we’re still buddies. Which is strange. I loved him before the movie, not much during it, and I love him again, and I think it’s the same on his side. We are both big SF fans, we have a lot of common interests, and I like his series LoveDeath & Robots.
Far from blaming his director, with whom he therefore ensures that the relationship has become healthy again, James Cameron even declares himself responsible for the main problem of the film.
“The problem is that I refused to do it without Arnold”
The filmmaker is lucid, and what seemed to be the strong argument of Terminator: Dark Fate ultimately proved to be his weakness. Indeed, James Cameron explains that Tim Miller did not want Arnold Schwarzenegger in this new film. And that he, out of loyalty to his friend, did not plan to get involved if the famous T-800 did not return. He posed this conditionand the trouble started…
The problem, and I take responsibility for it, is that I refused to do it without Arnold. Tim didn’t want it, and I said, “Look, this doesn’t suit me. Arnold and I have been friends for 40 years, and I can already hear him, ‘Jim, I can’t believe you’re doing a Terminator movie without me.” “I could very well let go, but I still said, ‘guys, if you guys find a way to bring Arnold back, then I’d be happy to be in the movie.’
“The terminator of your grandfather”
James Cameron then states that what stuck was the joint return of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton. That the reappearance of these two characters, unforgettable figures of the first two films, automatically dated Terminator: Dark Fate.
For his part, Tim wanted Linda. I think what happened is the movie could have worked with Linda in it, it could have worked with Arnold in it, but with Linda and Arnold in it together… She’s over 60, he’s over 70, suddenly it’s not your film “Terminator” anymore, it’s not even your father’s “Terminator” anymore, it’s your grandfather’s “Terminator”.
We thought it was cool to do a direct sequel to a 1991 movie. But young audiences today weren’t even born then. Even ten years later he was not yet born. We were myopic on this subject. We got drunk on our own stuff, and that’s the lesson I’ve learned.
With his consummate art of the punchlineJames Cameron therefore acknowledges having been caught in the trap of a certain nostalgia, and that bringing back these two legendary characters ultimately prevented the film from attracting an audience…
