After helming 2016's Deadpool, Tim Miller found himself in high demand. When creative differences with Ryan Reynolds resulted in the filmmaker walking away from the Merc with the Mouth's sequel, he set about rebooting the Terminator franchise alongside James Cameron.
The filmmaker had given Terminator Genisys his seal of approval in a featurette, sharing praise he's since admitted regretting due to what a colossal disappointment it ended up being.
While Dark Fate received positive reviews from fans and critics, it didn't make an overly impressive impact at the box office. Earning $62 million in North America and $261 million worldwide, the blockbuster was deemed a flop and the iconic franchise was put back on the shelf for what felt like the umpteenth time.
Cameron was a producer on the project, though, perhaps explaining why it was much better received than the underwhelming Rise Of The Machines, Salvation, and Genisys.
Talking to Empire Online, the Avatar director looked back on Dark Fate and singled out Gabriel Luna's Terminator as one of his favourite things about the sequel. "I think the Rev-9 was cool as shit. Personally, I think that’s as good as anything that we did back then."
Asked for his thoughts on why the movie struggled to find an audience, Cameron said, "Our problem was not that the film didn’t work. The problem was, people didn’t show up. I’ve owned this to Tim Miller many times. I said, 'I torpedoed that movie before we ever wrote a word or shot a foot of film.'"
He puts that down to "getting high on my own supply" with Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a movie that focused heavily on Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, a concept Dark Fate returned to by bringing together T-800 and Sarah Connor...again.
"We achieved our goal. We made a legit sequel to a movie where the people that were actually going to theatres at the time that movie came out are all either dead, retired, crippled, or have dementia. It was a non-starter. There was nothing in the movie for a new audience."
Giving his final thoughts on Terminator: Dark Fate, Cameron said, "I think the film’s cracking. I still think mine are the best, but I put it in solid third."
As noted, the movie received far more positive reviews than previous reboots, Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys. However, its 70% score put it on par with Terminator: Rise of the Machines (in contrast, The Terminator has 100% and Terminator 2: Judgement Day sits at 91%).