TERMINATOR: DARK FATE Bombs At The Box Office With A Disappointing $29 Million Debut

It appears as if moviegoers have completely rejected the idea of yet another sequel in the Terminator franchise, as Dark Fate has disappointed at the box office in a big way. Read on for details...

By JoshWilding - Nov 03, 2019 11:11 AM EST

Filed Under: Terminator

Despite positive reviews (it's the first "Fresh" instalment of the franchise since Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), Terminator: Dark Fate has underperformed at the box office in a huge way.

While it still debuted at #1, the sequel/reboot made only $29 million at the North American box office. That's well below expectations and things aren't much better overseas where a disappointing Chinese opening of $28 million brought it up to a worldwide total of $123.6 million. Bear in mind that it's been out for two weeks in many countries.

With a budget of $185 million before marketing, it appears as if the return of James Cameron as a producer along with stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton simply wasn't enough to interest moviegoers. That's no great surprise after Genisys, a movie Cameron actually endorsed as a worthy sequel!

"It is time to let this franchise finally go to the great beyond," Wall Street analyst Eric Handler of MKM Partners told The Hollywood Reporter when asked about thie movie's dismal performance.

Director Tim Miller clearly put a lot of love into Terminator: Dark Fate, so it's definitely a shame to see the movie perform so poorly. How do you guys think the series should be handled from here?

Hit the "View List" button to check out some of
the best Easter Eggs from Terminator: Dark Fate!

Best. Easter. Egg. Ever!

As Easter Eggs go, this one really is phenomenal.

Look closely on Carl's van and you'll see that the number for "Carl's Draperies" is 888-512-1984. Now, that's clever in its own right - May 12th, 1984 is the day Terminator was released in theaters - but do you know what happens if you end up calling that phone number?

Well, you'll hear a recorded message from Carl in which he promises to call you back and signs off with one of Arnie's trademark catchphrases: "Hasta la vista." Seriously, go give it a try!

Arnie's Trademark Sunglasses

Now, you hardly need us to tell you that a certain pair of sunglasses are an iconic part of the T-800's appearance. The T-801 wears them in the movie's opening sequence (which revisits the day of John's death) but later on in the movie, the domesticated robot decides against taking them with him.

It's a cool throwback fans of the franchise will appreciate and it's also at this point we very (and we do mean very) briefly get to hear that familiar Terminator theme from the classic soundtrack.

Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines

Terminator 3 isn't a movie appreciated by most fans but Dark Fate does pay homage to the T-X Terminator. At the end of the threequel, Arnie's T-850 defeats his technologically superior rival by removing his power core and jamming it into her head to end the villain once and for all.

Well, Dark Fate ends in pretty much the same way with Dani forced to use Grace's power core to stop Rev-9 by, you guessed it, shoving it straight into his head. The T-801 also ends up sacrificing himself by the time all is said and done in order to ensure that this powerful Terminator is stopped.

"Mother Mary"

This isn't a reference to any of the other Terminator movies but it's a cool line regardless. At one point, Sarah Connor refers to herself as "Mother Mary," something which should make sense if you're at all familiar with The Bible and the story of Jesus Christ. Sarah is, of course, referencing the fact that as the mother of John Connor, she too was once prophesised to give birth to a savior.

A less direct nod to The Bible is Rev-9's very name. That appeared to be a nod to chapter nine in the Book of Revelations, a tale which tells the reader about the end times as the sky darkens from smoke from "the Abyss" and a good portion of humanity is "killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur." Needless to say, that sounds an awful lot like a certain robot apocalypse!

Recognise Those Catchphrases?

Throughout the movie, we get a lot of references to some of the franchise's most iconic lines. For example, "I'll be back" is said by Sarah Connor rather than Arnie himself at any time. Grace also gets to deliver a new take on "Come with me if you want to live!" when she first meets Dani.

Even cooler than that, though, is Rev-9 saying "Say, do you know where I can get my hands on a chopper?" in an obvious nod to "Say, that's a nice bike'" from Judgement Day. Our favourite, though, is Grace talking about "100 dead cops" being left if they were to face Rev-9 and that's bound to be an Easter Egg referencing the T-800 slaughtering a whole building full of officers in Terminator.

Marcus Wright

Unless you're a hardcore Terminator fan, something tells us you've already forgotten Marcus Wright's name. Well, he was the human/android hybrid played by Sam Worthington in 2009's Terminator: Salvation. While that timeline no longer exists, Dark Fate arguably still references it.

How? Well, the very existence of Grace (another human/android mashup) proves that the technology which made Marcus what he is was also created in the timeline without Skynet and John Connor.

A Dark Miles Dyson Throwback

This is either a genius Easter Egg or we're reading into things way too much. Now, there's no sign or even a single mention of Cyberdine's Miles Dyson in Dark Fate but there may be a surprisingly, well, dark throwback to Judgement Day. In a flashback to Grace's past and our future, we see a plane falling out of the sky as the world's electronics simply stop working thanks to Legion.

Remember that Miles' plan for the neural net processor was for planes to fly themselves. Well, the emergence of the new Skynet ended up doing the opposite as Legion caused them to literally fall from the sky as the world quickly descended into chaos thanks to this villainous A.I.

A Familiar Song

During a recent interview with SYFY Wire, director Tim Miller actually revealed on Easter Egg he was adamant about including in the film. "The Dwight Yoakam song 'Guitars, Cadillacs,' that's my little Easter egg, because, you know, that's the [Terminator 2] scene that [Schwarzenegger]'s walking into the bar and they play that," the filmmaker explaind. "That was my big one."

In case you missed it, you can hear the song playing when Rev-9 first arrives in the present day.

A Recognisable Interface

As you might expect, Rev-9 has a very technologically advanced way of seeing the world but when we briefly get to see how Carl views things, it's an immediately recognisable reference to T2.

In fact, as he looks up at Sarah and Dani, that switches off in nearly the exact same way as when the T-800 sunk into that molten steel. This was a fun throwback to that classic film for sure.

Which of these Terminator: Dark Fate Easter Eggs was your favourite? Have we missed any that you ended up spotting? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE Star Linda Hamilton Reveals Whether She Regrets Starring In The Movie

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TERMINATOR: Linda Hamilton Is Done With Sarah Connor; Thinks It's Time For The Franchise To End

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145 Comments

1 2 3 4

MUTO123 - 11/3/2019, 11:54 AM

Paramount is reaching Sony levels of [frick]ing up at this point.

BIGBMH - 11/3/2019, 11:57 AM

Kinda saw this coming.

https://www.comicbookmovie.com/sci-fi/terminator/where-did-terminator-go-wrong-a-saga-of-wasted-potential-a171442

Just completed a video essay/editorial on the franchise and would appreciate people taking the time to check either one out!

L0RDbuckethead - 11/3/2019, 11:58 AM

Even though Nate lost last night, this GIF is still appropriate for what I thought this movie would do O.W.

blitzburgh - 11/3/2019, 2:04 PM

@L0RDbuckethead - his eye was [frick]ed up

L0RDbuckethead - 11/3/2019, 3:32 PM

@blitzburgh - Above and below his eye. Those shots he took to the head from Masvidal were vicious.

blitzburgh - 11/3/2019, 7:14 PM

@L0RDbuckethead - still would have gave it one more round though

blitzburgh - 11/3/2019, 7:15 PM

@L0RDbuckethead - I think Nate was going to lose regardless but he would have went the distance

THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 11/3/2019, 11:58 AM

noahthegrand - 11/3/2019, 12:02 PM

Too bad. I really liked the movie. It’s probably my third favorite terminator movie.

1 2 3 4

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