There's really no reason why
Terminator: Dark Fate shouldn't have succeeded as
reviews were positive and it had all the makings of a hit thanks to the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton (you really should give it a chance if you haven't already). Unfortunately, a disappointing $29 million opening weekend means the
T2 sequel is considered a flop.
Now, director Tim Miller has weighed in on why he believes things ended up going wrong for the film.
"I'm sure we could write a book on why it didn't work," he revealed. "I'm still not sure and I'm processing, but I'm very proud of the movie." Miller went on to address what some of the critics said about Dark Fate and why the baggage of the awful past few films proved to be a problem.
"The things they seemed to hate the most about the movie, were things I can't control. I can't control you didn't like Genysis or you felt betrayed by Terminator 4. I can't help that."
As for his frequent clashes with producer James Cameron, Miller confirmed that they had frequent disagreements over everything from certain lines to the way Legion should be portrayed. "[I suggested] Legion is so powerful, the only way to beat it is going back in time and strangle it in the crib. Jim says, 'What's dramatic about the humans losing?' And I say, 'Well, What's dramatic about the humans winning and they just need to keep on winning?' I like a last stand. It's not his thing."
"Even if I'm going to lose the fight, I still feel this obligation to fight because that is what the director is supposed to do. Fight for the movie. The lights come up, and there was a lot of stuff that I had cut that Jim thought was important and scenes we'd shot that we'd had disagreements on," said Miller. "But the lights come up and Jim says 'we've got a movie.'"
While they're still on good terms, the filmmaker does't want to work with Cameron again. "I can say no, but it has nothing to do with whatever trauma I have from the experience. It's more that I just don't want to be in a situation again where I don't have the control to do what I think is right."
Miller added that he faced similar problems with
Deadpool 2.
"It became clear that Ryan wanted to be in control of the franchise. You can work that way as a director, quite successfully, but I can't."
It appears as if these behind the scenes issues may have definitely had an impact on why
Terminator: Dark Fate didn't resonate with moviegoers and it will be interesting finding out what comes next both for this franchise and Miller. What are your thoughts on his comments? Let us know in the usual place and keep checking back here for updates.
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Dark Fate's most must-see Easter Eggs!
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.