James Cameron recently sat down for a conversation with director Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049 and Dune) for Variety‘s ‘Directors On Directors‘, with the two creatives speaking about the worlds they are currently inhabiting and building, (with Avatar and Dune respectively), as well as their approaches to film-making. The discussion covers the directors passion for the cinema experience, traversing recent difficult times due to the pandemic and also the changes within the industry; examining the growth of the streaming market and looking at its future potential.
As Terminator Fans this begs the question: could this indicate a potential future for the Terminator franchise? How could this discussion transfer to, say, Terminator 7?
James Cameron stated:
“I’m not afraid. I like change. I’m a child of the ’60s. I like it when things are chaotic. I think what we can see is an expanded form of cinema. I want to do a movie that’s six hours long and two and a half hours long at the same time. Same movie. You can stream it for six hours, or you can go and have a more condensed, roller coaster, immersive version of that experience in a movie theater. Same movie. Just, one’s the novel, and one’s the movie. Why not? Let’s just use these platforms in ways that haven’t been done before.”
James Cameron Directors On Directors
James Cameron isn’t a stranger to long form cinema, Titanic being a fine example of Cameron not being afraid to tackle a larger scale movie / story, though most importantly, the challenge of keeping the viewers attention for 3+ hours. He successfully managed this in a theater setting where bathroom breaks are always an unavoidable risk to the experience. James Cameron succeeded, accomplishing one of the most successful movies of all time.
A three hour Terminator movie would be great for Terminator Fans who have never stopped waiting for the director’s true return to the franchise – behind the camera and present on set, but if Jim is indeed interested in a movie / experience which is twice that duration then a six hour streaming Director’s Cut edition on a platform like Netflix could take hype through the roof – providing the theatrical outing is to the standard James Cameron presented to audiences in 1984 with The Terminator and 1991 with T2: Judgment Day.
So as we, the audience members, become more attuned to binge-watching full seasons of content on Netflix, and with a Terminator Anime Series not far off; could a six hour Terminator movie which is written and directed by James Cameron, be the way to fix the Terminator franchise malaise (or at least neutralise some of the problems), with the ability to pause and stop viewing, then we won’t miss anything if we need a snack, or a quick visit to the restroom.
First things first though, Avatar right now is James Cameron’s priority but maybe he could have a break after the third movie to revisit Terminator… ? Especially since he has already afforded himself a break in between making his Avatar movies with a 6 year break that is apparently going to allow the younger characters of the movie to age.
Most fans have made it abundantly clear that they would like some kind of ending to what James Cameron started with his first two movies, but of course James Cameron could decide to tell a different story altogether in the Terminator universe.
Providing the project would be on James Cameron’s terms; would you like to see a 6 hour Terminator movie?
Leave a comment…