Annapurna Terminates Involvement With Terminator: Genesis

To us Terminator: Genesis sounds like a lame excuse for a Terminator movie; no-one likes a reboot but that’s what it is. Annapurna Pics is a name that got us excited due to their production of indie projects but we expressed extreme concerns when Skydance Productions got involved- due to their polar opposite range of movies, big, brash action movies with no soul.

Annapurna Pictures is now officially leaping from the Terminator: Genesis train, possibly before it crashes and burns on the proverbial funeral pyre of the fans hopes and dreams.

So the woman who bought the Terminator franchise (Megan Ellison) is out, could this be her not wanting to tarnish the reputable name of her indie production company (Annapurna Pictures)… ? When looking at the facts this may be likely.

Her brother David will now take on two thirds of the budget with Paramount taking on the rest of the costs.

David Ellison:

“Skydance Productions focuses on elevated event-level film making and the relaunch of this iconic franchise is a perfect match for our company,” said David Ellison. “I am very confident in our top-notch creative team and the material driving this project. I’m grateful to Megan, who will remain involved as an executive producer, and for initially bringing the Terminator franchise to us. I look forward to our continued creative partnership as we prep for production in April.”

This paragraph basically translates into… popcorn movie.

Terminator: Genesis is now a Skydance Productions movie with involvement from Paramount; it is unknown if Paramount will take on a bigger role than before or whether they will just continue to distribute the movie but also they will obviously be investing in the movie.

Paramount are known for being one of the main companies for abandoning filming movies with film and have gone fully digital. This suggests also that the movie could be completely digital, from the résumé of Skydance we can also expect a loud, brash action movie, with tons of CGI. Fans actually wanted the gritty indie, practical effect science fiction war movie Annapurna was capable of giving us but obviously didn’t care to.

Megan Ellison will still be listed as an executive producer for the project but judging by this declaration it is safe to say the Annapurna name will not be attached to the movie as she won’t be funding the film past the original purchase of the rights. Could this be Megan distancing Annapurna from the project professionally just in case this bombs?

Megan Ellison:

“We have been working closely with the filmmakers and have the utmost faith in their abilities. We love this project and the direction it is going in, but for now Annapurna’s primary focus is to produce independent films. As I am staying on as executive producer, I am looking forward to working closely with David and Paramount to make a film that will live up to the brands’ legacy and one that I know audiences will love.”

To us this looks like Megan Ellison has lost faith in the project and now we’re treading old ground again with a movie that could be very much similar to the rebooted RoboCop if not worse!

Also Skydance Productions usually like to use Paramount to distribute but they usually co-produce with other production companies, so they may bring in another studio to help with Terminator: Genesis.

Now we also a long while ago tweeted Megan Ellison regarding the age classification on Terminator and she promised it would be R.

This was a promise made by Megan Ellison not by her brother David or Paramount Pictures.

So could the next movie be geared at children like the new RoboCop movie? Skydance usually produce PG-13 movies. Paramount also like summer movie movies which are aimed at the whole family. Did Terminator: Genesis just become a PG-13 movie? It wouldn’t even be a surprise if they used Chris Pine, Tom Cruise and The Rock in the movie either.

This movie seems more than troubled already. What’s next… ?

Source: Deadline