Director Justin Lin, hot off ‘Fast Five’, told The Playlist that he had met with James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger regarding another ‘Terminator’ film.
“Just even this week, I had a great meeting with Arnold and James Cameron, just sitting down unofficially. And James is so gracious because he’s not part of the project, he’s not going to be producing, but it was great of him just as a filmmaker to take time out to just talk,” said Lin. “I don’t know where it’s going to lead, but I never thought at this level I’m going to be able to meet filmmakers and be in situations where they’re that gracious and insightful and so inclusive. And that’s a franchise that I’m working on right now, but again, if I’m going to be kind of the gatekeeper to it, I want to make sure that I can hopefully build it up the right way – and so far that’s been the most fun. Just to be able to take James Cameron’s brain and for him to be so open even though he has no stakes in it, just as a human being, that’s something that I will always remember as a part of my journey as a filmmaker.”
The aging, almost 30-year-old science fiction franchise has become a possible hot commodity once again with the recent purchase of rights to make 2 more films by producer Megan Ellison. Ellison reportedly paid $15-20 million for the rights and is working with Lin to put the first of two films together with Schwarzenegger also attached.
The first film, ‘The Terminator’, was budgeted at $6.4 million, grossed $78 million and established Cameron as a director and Schwarzenegger as a box office draw.
7 years later, Cameron and Schwarzenegger returned to the franchise with the release of 1991’s blockbuster ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’. The whopping $102 million budgeted film (one of the highest budgets ever at that time) grossed an impressive $519 million and introduced a new level of special effects first experimented with in Cameron’s ‘The Abyss’.
Subsequent releases have included two very mediocre film sequels (2003’s ‘Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines’ & 2009’s ‘Terminator Salvation’) as well as the excellent but short-lived Fox television series ‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’.
Lin’s film schedule currently includes ‘The Fast and the Furious 6’, ‘Terminator 5’ and an untitled scifi thriller from writer Bobby Glickert. Lin also recently announced his departure as director for the upcoming ‘Highlander’ reboot where he will remain as producer.