Paramount Pictures really needed Terminator: Dark Fate to be a financial success, as the company has had years of box office failures (with a few hits here and there).
Terminator: Dark Fate was an equal co-investment between Skydance, Paramount and Tencent, so the risk was not solely on Paramount’s shoulders but Terminator was a big deal in that “revival” plan for the once great studio.
Terminator star Linda Hamilton, AKA Sarah Connor, spoke to CinemaBlend about the box office failure of Terminator: Dark Fate, the Terminator fanbase and the future of Terminator.
Linda Hamilton stated:
“I really think that box office is gonna be the thing that killed Terminator.”
Linda Hamilton told CinemaBlend
Terminator: Dark Fate only managed to pull in 29 million USD in its opening weekend (that’s $261 million worldwide) from an estimated $185 million budget (not including a reportedly huge marketing budget). The studios have of course been hoping to make up the loss with the home release, VOD and Red-box rentals.
Linda Hamilton then went on to mention the poor Terminator fan turnout for the theatrical release of T:DF; and the resulting consequences on the continuation of the newly planned trilogy…
“Of course it’s the studios that put hundreds of millions of dollars into a film, but it’s just a fickle world in terms of fandom and maybe they were just worn out by the Terminators that preceded.”
Linda Hamilton told CinemaBlend
“changing frequently, especially as regards one’s loyalties or affections.”
Fickle (meaning)
We disagree with Linda about the fanbase being fickle – for years loyal Terminator fans across the world demanded the return of Linda Hamilton to this franchise. We at TheTerminatorFans.com, pushed for ten years for Linda to return to the role of Sarah Connor, and for the franchise to remember its bloody horror roots.
It is the studios who are disloyal to the source material and the fanbase – taking a hard-line with anyone who doesn’t sing from their hymn sheet.
Insiders at Paramount and Skydance agreed with box office analysts who commented on the poor box office opening of T:DF…
“a reflection of complete IP failure”
THR
If Dark Fate was about ‘kicking the can down the road‘ (delaying Judgment Day) then the studios are kicking the can of blame at everyone but themselves; add in a Director who insulted the fanbase/potential audience on more than one occasion, telling them he doesn’t give a fuck, and it was clear that there were big problems afoot.
The toxic marketing of Terminator: Dark Fate was polarising, managing to alienate a large swathe of the hardcore fans before the movie had even been released.
Fans have stood by this franchise through thick and thin, watched it go through the ups and downs, and have been vocal about what the series needed to do to stay relevant and be successful – these are not the actions of a fickle fanbase.
On potentially returning to Terminator, Linda Hamilton also said:
“I don’t have any desire to continue. I never did.”
Linda Hamilton told CinemaBlend
Though Linda then concluded with:
“Only if there’s something really viable in the script and story and characters, would I ever consider doing it again. Otherwise it’s just diminishing returns, isn’t it?”
Linda Hamilton told CinemaBlend
So, Linda says she has no desire to continue and never did… but she would consider doing another movie if the script/story and characters are viable…
A lot of trust for T:DF, within the fanbase, was based on the fact that Linda had turned down the poor script of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines due to the story not taking her character in any new directions and being something she didn’t want to play. Linda then signed on to Dark Fate based on the most bare bones of a pitch about her character, with no script or story. She said yes because James Cameron sold her on it – but she could have demanded a finished and solid script was presented first.
We previously read the T3: ROTM script that Linda turned down, and in our opinion it was better than Dark Fate and had more potential for Sarah Connor.
Is this the end for Sarah Connor in the Terminator franchise?
*Terminator: Dark Fate is apparently doing well on home release, and is currently #1 in the rental/Redbox charts and disc release charts.
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