It been known for a while now that the rights to the
Terminator franchise are coming back to James Cameron in 2019. The classic sci-fi film series has struggled ever since Cameron departed after the smash hit,
Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
With the rights set to return to him, Cameron has been focused on how he will handle the release of a new movie. Early reports have him in
negotiations with Deadpool director, Tim Miller, to helm the film as he will be busy with his upcoming Avatar sequels.
While speaking to
News Australia, Cameron revealed that he actually has a trilogy in mind, and is working with current
Terminator rights holder, David Ellison, to get it off the ground.
"The question is — has the franchise run its course or can it be freshened up," he asked.
"Can it still have relevance now where so much of our world is catching up to what was science fiction in the first two films. We live in a world of predator drones and surveillance and big data and emergent AI (artificial intelligence). So I am in discussions with David Ellison, who is the current rights holder globally for the Terminator franchise and the rights in the US market revert to me under US copyright law in a year and a half so he and I are talking about what we can do. Right now we are leaning toward doing a three-film arc and reinventing it. We’ll put more meat on the bones if we get past the next couple of hurdles as and when we announce that."
Talk then shifted to Cameron's disdain for the other films in the franchise that were produced after he walked away. When it comes to the likes of
Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines,
Terminator: Salvation, and
Terminator: GENISYS, it seems Cameron has only spoken positively about them to show support for his friend, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"I think it’s fairly widely known that I don’t have a lot of respect for the films that were made later," he explained.
"I was supportive at the time in each case for Arnold’s sake because he is a close friend. He has been a mate of mine since 33 years ago so I was always supportive and never too negative. But they didn’t work for me for various reasons."
As of right now, it is not known whether or not Schwarzenegger will be a part of the new set of films.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is currently scheduled to be
re-released in theaters in 3D on August 3, 2017 , and will also get an amazing new Collectors Edition 4K
release on October 3, 2017.