Terminator: Dark Fate Star Thinks Sequel Suffered From Franchise Fatigue

The stage was set for Terminator: Dark Fate to be one of the biggest sequels in the franchise, as it saw the first return of Linda Hunt since 1992’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, reuniting her with Arnold Schwarzenegger, with the film being helmed by Deadpool director Tim Miller and featuring franchise creator James Cameron as a producer. Unfortunately, the film fell short of financial expectations, with series newcomer Mackenzie Davis recently pointing out that, with this being the sixth film in the franchise, it seems as though audiences had grown tired of the franchise, so it wasn’t a complete shock when the well-reviewed film didn’t make a major box office impact.

“I loved the experience of making that movie. It was hard and rigorous, as I’ve already said, but the people were amazing,” Davis shared with the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “Tim was an incredible director, just so dedicated and devoted to making it the best thing it could be. As far as the box office and stuff, it’s Terminator 6, nobody saw the last three, I get it, it’s okay, I don’t think that means what we made was bad, but I understand that the audience’s appetite has been exhausted.”

She continued, “How much you attribute that to there being three women in the lead, I don’t know, I never really wanted to engage with that stuff because I can’t control it. I am a woman and I really liked the part and I felt proud of what I did so I couldn’t be like, ‘No one’s seeing it because they’re sexist.’ It seemed like an easier answer for me to be like, ‘Alright, six is too much, now we know.’”

While the final product earned positive reactions from critics and fans, director Miller explained after the film’s release that collaborating with Cameron didn’t go as he had hoped and he didn’t see himself working with Cameron again in the future. Davis went on to note that she didn’t feel she had a difficult time while shooting the film and that any “conflicts” came from multiple perspectives all trying to make the best product possible.

“I wouldn’t classify it [as a difficult shoot] at all, ” the actress pointed out. “The creative conflicts, sure, there are always going to be [those] if you give a sh-t about what you’re making, or else you just have someone parroting the corporate interests instead of trying to make some type of art within this very corporate machine.”

Since the release of Terminator: Dark Fate last year, there have been no official updates on the franchise’s future.

Are you disappointed that the series has stalled? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!