Terminator: Dark Fatedirector Tim Miller shares his thoughts on the movie’s failure and touches specifically on viewers' feelings about John Connor’s shocking death. Released in 2019, the sixth installment in the long-runningTerminatorfranchisewasn’t universally loved. The film, which features the return of original stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, was also box office disappointment, grossing $261 million worldwide and stalling the franchise.Terminator: Dark Fate’s opening scene, which features a T-800 gunning down a young John, was a point of particular contention.
Five years afterTerminator: Dark Fate’s poor debut, Miller, in an interview withVariety, reflects on the divisive film. Miller defends both himself and the film, arguing thatmany of the movie’s controversial elements weren’t actually his idea. Regarding John’s death scene, Miller confirms that this was franchise producer and original movie director James Cameron’s idea, but also that he doesn’t think it was the wrong decision. Check out Miller’s comment below:
Nobody sets out to disregard someone’s closely held childhood dreams. It’s no cause for vitriol. A lot of people didn’t like “Terminator: Dark Fate” for reasons I had nothing to do with. One, because it was the sixth film and another because we killed John Connor at the start, butif Jim Cameron wants that to happen – which I agree with by the way – then that’s what you do.
What Killing John Connor Meant For Terminator: Dark Fate’s Reception
The Movie Suffered From Behind-The-Scenes Disagreements
Terminator: Dark Fate’s reviews aren’t actually that negative overall, especially compared to those forTerminator Salvation(2009) andTerminator: Genisys(2015). Still, though, killing John was divisive because that character had been a focal point of all previous films. The sixth film’s opening sequence is set only three years afterTerminator 2: Judgment Day(1991), one of the franchise’s most beloved installments, andit was argued that killing John ultimately took away from that character’s journey in the acclaimed sequel.
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Many people involved inTerminator: Dark Fatehave been fairly open about their thoughts on the movie.Both Miller and Cameron have shared that there were a number of creative disagreements during the making of the project, but that Cameron ultimately won out, as he had final cut. Miller, for his part, toldTHRthat he wouldn’t work with Cameron again because he wouldn’t want to sacrifice that much control on a movie. Cameron, on the other hand, admitted tomaking some mistakes withTerminator:Dark Fate, particularly including both Hamilton and Schwarzenegger.
Terminator 2: Judgment DayactorEdward Furlong reprised his role as JohnforDark Fatein a motion capture capacity. Speaking about the death scene, the actor revealed that he has “a mixed feeling” about it.
Our Take On John Connor’s Death In Terminator: Dark Fate
It Could Have Worked Under Different Circumstances
On paper, it’s not hard to see why Cameron pushed tokill John inTerminator: Dark Fate’s opening. Both of the previous installments were not well-received, andkilling John is an effective way to put the franchise on a drastically different path very quickly, and it also informs Sarah Connor’s attitude and emotional journey throughout the film. That being said, the rest of the movie ultimately lets this decision down.
Terminator: Dark Fatefailed in part becauseyounger audiences weren’t interested in seeing the sixth installment in a franchise starring two actors in their 60s and 70s. The movie, as a whole, also doesn’t really recapture the magic of earlier installments or feel entirely fresh, leaving it in this awkward middle ground. Cameron has teased that whatever comes next for the franchise afterTerminator: Dark Fatewill be an entirely new chapter, and this certainly sounds like the best path forward.
Cameron has confirmed that he’s working on ascript forTerminator 7, and that it will leave franchise iconography behind in a story that involves AI.
Terminator: Dark Fate
Cast
Terminator: Dark Fate is a direct sequel to Terminator 2: Judgement Day, ignoring the rest of the future films to re-canonize the franchise. Set years after Sarah Connor successfully stopped the impending Judgement Day, a new Terminator is sent to destroy the resistance before it forms. Now forced to team up with a former T-800 terminator model, Sarah will seek vengeance and protect Dani Ramos, the new target of Skynet.
