In the latest IMDb update; James Cameron is revealed to be Executive Producer and Creative Consultant.
So, what is the difference between a Producer and an Executive Producer?
Google says:
In general terms, the producer is the person who is involved in producing the film. He is the one who is as closely associated with the project as the director himself. … The producer also is responsible for marketing the film well. An executive producer, on the other hand, may not be quite involved in the project.
In some circumstances an Executive Producer can be none other than a simple courtesy title that is negotiated for a picture in a deal or a passing over of rights… eg Producer on movie A, becomes Executive Producer on movie B. This is no way means that James Cameron isn’t more involved in the sixth Theatrical Terminator movie but it also in no way means he is as heavily involved as fans would want or like to believe…
Another google description of Executive Producer:
The role of the Executive Producer is to oversee the work of the producer on behalf of the studio, the financiers or the distributors. They will ensure the film is completed on time, within budget, and to agreed artistic and technical standards.
Overall we don’t think Jim is heavily involved in producing the movie, describing his Terminator work as “a weekend job”, do we really believe Jim is going to be working 24/7 on Terminator at the weekends after exhausting himself on back to back Avatar Sequel filming,- which began this week? The term “spreading thin” comes to mind.
James Cameron’s Real Job is Creative Consultant:
James Cameron is obviously simply giving input to ideas and saying yes, that is a good idea or no, that is a shit idea, so basically a feedback master… or bringing some ideas to the table. James Cameron is involved and is invested in this movie to some degree… he doesn’t really want to end a high flying career with a bunch of failures when he has broken box office records previously. This role makes the project feel a little more stable and had James just had an Executive Producer credit then we would be more willing to put this down as a courtesy title and a few public appearances to seal the deal with fans. Should we next be expecting some dazzling pictures of James Cameron on the set of the next Terminator movie for some positive PR to reaffirm his involvement even more?
Regardless, having James Cameron’s involvement, no matter how large or how little, provides more trust to fans and Tim Miller seems to be on a similar wavelength to fans but as always the final movie will be the proof of the pudding and the final Judgment from fans is as inescapable as a Terminator!
The real (heavily involved) producer work will come from David Ellison and Dana Goldberg, both of course are the producers of Terminator Genisys.