Despite the financial success of the fifth Terminator film, Terminator Genisys, with almost $300 million in profits, and a previous plan to use the film as a launchpad for a franchise revival, Paramount has announced that they have decided to finally lay the franchise to rest after a solid 32 years.
According to the New York Daily News, the next film in the franchise was planned to go into production this year, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and costar Emilia Clarke being offered long term deals. Whether it was the critic’s reaction to the last film, or just the whims of the Paramount executives, all of those plans are now void and the death of the franchise seems inevitable.
Schwarzenegger did have a great run with the Terminator films, appearing in four of the five films (Terminator Salvation featured Roland Kickinger with a CGI facial likeness of Schwarzenegger), voicing video game characters, and appearing in shorts, and has made over $100 million from the franchise.
Paramount’s decision does not officially kill the series, it can be picked up by another company, but that is extremely unlikely, especially with the famous bodybuilder quickly approaching 70. It would be interesting though to have an independent production company pick it up and put their own spin on the multi-million dollar franchise.
Recently Schwarzenegger left Celebrity Apprentice after a fairly unsuccessful stint, blaming Donald Trump’s previous involvement with the series for it’s lack of viewership (Trump, in turn, blamed Schwarzenegger for the low ratings), but he has many projects announced for the future including a Conan reboot and another Expendables sequel.
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