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The TERMINATOR Franchise...

Published at:  Jan 03, 2000 6:49:51 AM CST

Hey folks, Harry here... It's strange... I just got finished watching the DVD of Kirk Douglas' ULYSSES... and when I read this email about the TERMINATOR franchise and Mario Kassar and Andy Vayna's movement forward... I couldn't help but wish for a parallel. You see... I see Kassar and Vayna and Sarafian and Wilson as the suitors of Penelope, unable to bend Ulysses'(Cameron's) bow. And I harbor hopes that the Goddess ATHENA will grant Cameron the strength to again reclaim this property of his. But then... I am just coming off of seeing Kirk Douglas kill dozens of men and reclaim the woman he loved but hasn't seen in 10 years. TERMINATOR 2 was 9 years ago... nearly 10 years have passed. Ulysses... it's time to come home, you've been wandering too long...




Hi Harry,

Longtime fan of the site.

I don't know if this qualifies a scoop or not as I didn't drug any security
guards or kill an attack dog to get this story.

The following story is reported in the FEB 2000 'Total Film' ( Good British
Movie Mag ), I've copied the text word for word.

'The fact that neither Arnie nor Cameron will be involved with the
(Terminator ) sequels will come as a disappointment for some fanboys. Still,
at least the news ends yearsof speculation as to the status of the stalled
status of the 'Tetminator' franchise. Clearly fed up with waiting, dynamic
duoMario Kassar and Andy Vayna ( who share the Terminator Rights ) Have hired
scripters Tedi Sarafian ( Tank Girl ) and David Wilson ( Supernova ) to write
the third and fourth movies respectively. Picking up the apocalyptic baton
from T2, the third movie will be set in 2001, right at the beginning of the
Armageddonesque conflict predicted in the first two movies.

As for the final chapter, T4 will be set in a robot ravaged post apocalyptic
world so often glimpsed during Camerons Cyber-opus. With Sarah Connor
definitely wormfood, both flicks will turn their attention towards John
Connor and his protector terminator sidekick as he fends off a T-1000
successor.

That's about it, Harry. Cameron and Arnie will NOT be involved with this
franchise in the future ( I didn't mean that as a pun ).

Hope this is of interest

Shushter.



    + Expand All

    Readers Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 6:53:30 AM CST

    why oh why

    by kev

    a terminator movie without Arnie would be like........well.....ummm.....well, you know how the rest goes

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 7:24:34 AM CST

    NNNNOOOOOOOOOO

    by swiss toni

    Why oh why oh why can't these arseholes be satisfied. They've created two of the finest sci-fi films of the last century so why do they want to degrade their memory with two more? I don't want to judge things before they are released but it would clearly be a huge mistake. Look at Lethal weapon 3 and 4. Pants. Even if Arnie was in this film it would be crap because there can be nothing new from his character. We've seen his two sides: evil terminator and reprogrammed good cyborg. What else is there? And without the creative genius of Cameron it will probably flop quicker than an alcohol related erection. Please please please stop tarnishing the memories of superb film with sequels that aren't made out of artistic merit or the need for a story. You big wig fucks are making them to line your wallets and in the process ruining people's memories of two excellent films. We do not need another. Does anyone think they will be good, apart from Harry who'll no doubt love them for a brief period.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 7:45:11 AM CST

    i think this is outdated - Cameron is not that stupid.

    by best boy

    I dont believe that James 'King of the World' Cameron is letting this happen at all.

    From what i've read, knowing that Arnie wouldnt play ball without Cameron involved, Vajna and Kassar sold out -

    Gale Anne Hurd's portion of the franchise is now back in safe hands and Cameron is developing the property appropriately.

    I say never fear!!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 7:49:13 AM CST

    terminator franchise

    by mut77

    a terminator movie without arnie??? then why does he keep on saying 'i'll be back'?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 7:55:46 AM CST

    no arnie??

    by mut77

    i guess the immortal lines "i'll be back" weren't so immortal after all...

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 8:43:16 AM CST

    Not much of a franchise

    by dehayd

    Cameron would do well to distance himself from this mess. I predict that development on these lame sequels will continue, then somebody up the food chain will wake up and yank the funds for a theatrical release. The scripts will be rewritten, and Terminator: the Series will appear on USA Network's fall schedule. The ratings will be pretty good, and after a few seasons, there'll be a spin-off featuring a female terminator, titled Terminatrix. Overexposure will finally take hold and the whole thing will implode. (Highlander, anyone?) And I'll say, "Thank God." It was okay 10 years ago, but the Terminator thing is done, folks. It's over. I'd much rather see Cameron spend his time working on something new and different than a sequel to anything.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 8:54:51 AM CST

    T3

    by cynic

    I think we may have gone this route before. Anyone remember Robocop 3? another good Franchise wasted.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 9:27:54 AM CST

    They're going to make it regardless...

    by the gline

    ...and when that happens, we're going to be treated to two very, very lackluster movies. That's my prediction, anyway -- unless they find some way to breathe some life into it. They are also ignoring some real problems: How can the apocalypse take place in the third film if it's shown in the second that it isn't going to happen? They're going to need to do some wonderfully fast tap-dancing to get around that one. Not that it matters -- at this point my enthusiasm for projects like this has cooled down to somewhere below room temperature.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 9:31:24 AM CST

    Silver lining

    by owatonna

    Just be grateful Cameron, Arnie etc aren't going to be involved. Even if Cameron were in charge it would still be woeful - quite apart from the staleness of the franchise, he started to lose it with T2 and has been going downhill ever since. As it is, if nobody of any significance from the first two films is involved, these can be declared not to count and ignored. Personally I think all this weeping and wailing is a bit behind time anyway because the first sequel should never have been made, fun though it is, so when it comes to preserving unblemished memories of a great original the horse has quite definitely bolted.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 10:46:12 AM CST

    I said it before, I'll say it again...

    by portnoy

    They're going to fuck up the Terminator sequels so why not fuck them up well? All you need are two things:
    1) Bruce Campbell as John Connor
    2) Sam Raimi Directing
    If they do this, I won't even remember Cameron and Arnold.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 11:19:05 AM CST

    I, too LOVED Tank Girl AND both Terminators, but dammit--

    by sith lord jesus

    --the last thing I want to see this year is a sequal to ANYTHING! Goddammit, enough with all the rehashing already! Let's see some NEW stuff out there. How many good, origional scripts--science fiction and otherwise--are being passed up by the studios because the suits just want to crank out the same old crap on the notion that since it's been done before it already has a built-in audience? Whatever! Remember ROBOCOP 3, anyone?! How about JAWS 3D?!? Screw the remakes, let's see something NEW in this new decade/century/whatever ya wanna call it! What about Harlan Ellison's excellent "I, Robot" script?! Why the hell isn't THAT in production?!? What about a movie of David Zindell's MOST magnificent "The Broken God?" Or an action/bio flick about the life of the Roman Emperor Augustus? Or--oh, what the hell, go for it!--Neil Stephenson's SNOWCRASH! True, this latter is probably almost unfilmable, but fuck it, excellence is only achieved when one tries to reach beyond their grasp! The point I'm trying to make, though, is this--where are the CITIZEN KANE'S and GONE WITH THE WINDS of tomorrow going to come from if all Hollywoood keeps doing is regurgitating the same old CRAP over and over again, sequel after sequel, scripts based off of old television shows and the like. BLECH!!! The best films I saw last year were things that at least TRIED to be origional, things that went the extra mile--BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, THE MAITRIX, AMAERICAN BEAUTY and PRINCESS MONONOKE. THAT'S the sort of thing I want to see more of this year! Well, I'll stop now, as I'm sure I've already pissed off a lot of people, but ya know what? FUCK IT!!!! DAMN THE TORPEDOES, BRING ON THE NEW STUFF, BABY!!!!!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 11:59:27 AM CST

    I, Robot....

    by ninja nerd

    Hey, I am given to believe that Asimov and Ellison pitched a TERRIFIC, completed, ready-to-shoot screenplay several years before Asimov's death. It was published in Asmiov's magazine along with the story of how it Hollywood wanted to "fix" the script. Asimov and Ellison basically said "eat shit and die" and that's the last I've heard. Based on the recent Robin Williams suck-fest based on another Asmiov robot story, I'd say they made a good decision! While I would love to see Ellison's treatment hit the big screen, I doubt Janet Asimov, Isaac's widow, will let it happen.
    As to Cameron and Arnold and T-pick-a-number; the first two pretty much told the entire story. A movie of the Cyberwar and it's end might be OK, if it was done well, but it needn't (shouldn't) take two movies or Arnold or Cameron to do so.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 12:02:08 PM CST

    Terminate!

    by kraven

    This news is no big surprise to those of us who have been watching the writhing coils of Carolco rise from its funeral pyre. Of course this looks like drek from the "talent" thay have assigned to it, but who knows who will actually end up making it? Not that I would see any Terminator movie without either Arnie or Cameron involved in it. And for all of the stupi...sorry, naive people who think Cameron cannot direct because he made a love story, I would point out that making a love story didn't exactly harm the subsequent careers of William Wyler, John Ford, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, Stanley Kubrick, Robert Zemeckis, Stephen Spielberg etc. etc. Jeez, give the guy a break.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 1:16:01 PM CST

    The plot was revealed in the 1st two movies!

    by robred1

    Let's re-cap. We know that the humans are enslaved in death camps by machines, not terminators. (I believe human simpathizers/colaborators help in an attempt to curry favor: my speculation.) John leads a rebellion in one camp and begins to lead a resistance. The first terminators are only developed after the resistance starts. They have rubber skin and are easy to spot. Eventually, the first series of terminators is developed. The one that we see attacking a rebel base in the sewer looks NOTHING like Arnie!! The entire first movie can be done EASILY without the muscle-bound mush mouth! IF the 3rd film is wildly successful, he'll beg to come back for the fourth when he is really needed to show the end of the war with Sky-net, the capture of the time facility, and the reprograming of the original terminator. (Read the first couple of chapters of the novel of the 2nd movie.) This movie will only suck if incompetent people get their hands on it. Not because two people bail on the project.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 1:25:04 PM CST

    Oh please let's move on

    by grovertrover

    I would have to agree with the majority of talkbackers on this-ITS ALL OLD HAT NOW!-if anyone involved in this franchise reads this then listen to these voices-we have never wanted to see a Spartacus 2, why now in 2000 do we need another damned sequel to a sequel to a sequel. looking at what's upcoming this year-it was looking hopeful that sequels were not the order of the day- and indeed 1999 had too many good films that weren't sequels to prove that they are not a prerequisite when writing a film. just leave it alone-go read some scripts written by the legions of 'unknowns' out there with astory to tell, and who dont have the money or power that provides one with the luxury to keep manufacturing garbage, dressing it up as a film and selling it to world who then spend money, and wish they hadn't.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 1:29:45 PM CST

    Game over man! Game over!

    by darth siskel

    Gimme a break! Terminator without Cameron on Arnold? Hold on a sec..........................................................................................................BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAA!!! Why?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 1:46:26 PM CST

    Darth Siskel is a dumbshit.

    by zeylan

    Thanks a lot for scrolling the whole message forum over to the right with your stupid "HAHAHAHA" crap. Idiot.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 1:47:24 PM CST

    Old news..........

    by robinp

    I read the same thing in "Starburst" a totally superior Brit S/F movie mag a month ago.

    Face it, without Arnie and Cameron, the franchise is dead......stick a fork in it, it's done !

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 1:54:33 PM CST

    The Iron Giant Teminator

    by todd

    Why not use the Iron Giant as one of the new Terminators? That would be cool. He has the guns built into himself already. Infact, now that i think about it, Maybe The Iron Giant did not come from outspace but from the future, He was supposed to time jump back to the 1980's and kill John Connor, but got sent back to the 50's instead and became friends with Hogarth. WOW, The Iron Giant is really part of the Teminator films!!! It makes so much sense. Hey, my finger puppet keeps saying redrum too me

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 2:16:14 PM CST

    They better get the ball rolling on this one...

    by niiiice

    If they want it to be set in the year 2001! And wasn't it 1999 that Skynet was supposedly switched on for the first time? Maybe I'm wrong. Terminator holds absolutely no appeal without Cameron or Swcharzennegar. No one cared about what happened to John or Sarah Connor in T2, they wanted to see the badass Arnie blowing up things with big guns, and they wanted to see Robert Patrick melting and shapeshifting. All the little screenplay things were interesting, like the bonding between Arnie and Edward Furlong, or the Terminator's struggle to understand the concept of emotions, but honestly, people who love the film remember it for the "bad ass" factor. Without any significant star power, Terminator has only its namesake to rely on for success. And resuscitating what's supposed to be a finished storyline won't be too attractive either. Anyhow, if its supposed to be set in 2001, they better be WELL into preproduction right now. It'll look pretty lame with a post apocalyptic war being set a few months BEFORE the film actually comes out.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 2:26:48 PM CST

    TANK GIRL?! This is gonna fuckin suck like Batman & Robin

    by jopapa

    I can't believe Cam is gonna put up with this. Cam and Arnie ARE Terminator. Without Arnie leading they may as well call it "pussy Robot". The only director good enough to stand in for Cam is Simon West. And only if Bruckheimer produces it. Although I would NOT want to see a Nick Cage-type cyborg, if you know what I mean.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 2:51:44 PM CST

    T-1OOO?

    by the kid

    This story is really old, but I never heard about a T-1000 factoring in.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 3:58:56 PM CST

    Hmmm I don`t know about this

    by elgyn6655321

    I have a sneaky suspician that these movies will either never really get made, or go direct-to-video. "Terminator" without Arnold or Cameron is......well.....Universal Soldier.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 7:28:12 PM CST

    highlander II

    by bigbenkenobi

    highlander II!enough said!!!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 8:09:02 PM CST

    Someone clarify this...

    by mr.chupon

    I haven't seen the first Terminator movie for a long, time, so if the answer lies within that one, i can't be expected to know...How can a sequel be made along the same lines as the others? Wasn't the building of SkyNet stopped when Arnie's and T1000's chips were destroyed? Am I missing something? The only option I can see is that some sort of lame amendment to the ending of T2 (the chip is molten metal resistant or some stupid thing like that) for the sake of maintaining some sort of continuity in the series...as for myself, I seriously don't see the need for two more Terminators, the series is absolutely fine where it stands. Even if the improbable occurs and the sequels are good, I'm not willing to take that chance. No thanks.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 8:15:42 PM CST

    HHAHAA! Double Dumb Ass on you!

    by darth siskel

    I don't run this site! Why the hell did this page turn into the 70mm edition? I don't know why.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 9:39:32 PM CST

    Tank Grrl is a Slut...

    by mini maul

    and a dike too!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 10:47:38 PM CST

    make it stop!

    by prince of egypt

    "Terminator" was awseome. "Terminator 2", while not as perfect overall, definitely completed the story. It's done. Skynet could never be built so the war never happened and the terminators were never made. Why pull it all out of mothballs again? Obviously for the money. It will suck HUGE! It would be an okay film if Arnold and Cameron were in the loop, but only okay. By the way, to the guy that said that Schwazenegger couldn't act. I bet you there's a rabbi's son out there by the name of Leonard Nimoy who would strongly disagree with you. It takes a great deal of talent and effort to portray a completely emotionless character. It can, in fact be downright exhausting. Arnold pulled it off in both films beautifully.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 10:58:14 PM CST

    Hey, Harry, you forget 6th Grade reading class?

    by keeper

    Remember that whole thing with the Trojans 'cause it had taken Ulysses alot more than that to get back home? As for T3 or whatever, the only way it can happen without completely screwing up the continuity of the other movies is to make it a prequel. The most awesome part of T1 and T2 were the future war scenes in the post-apocalyptic LA anyhow. Then again, everytime I think about this I remember what happened to Robocop and Aliens, so maybe it's better that this thing stays dead. If they do it though they better get their butts in gear before the Wachowskis possibly beat them to expanding the "future war against the machines" concept on the big screen with their Matrix prequels.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2000 11:23:57 PM CST

    End of another franchise

    by 60091

    Typical movie producers out to rape the hell out of another franchise to make a quick buck. I thought Tank Girl BLEW CHUNKS...although Lori Petty is one heck of a hot momma. If the movie is made, all I foresee is alot of Terminators running around and explosions everywhere...without a STORY in sight.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 04, 2000 12:09:38 AM CST

    Damn it your forgetting the ARM!!

    by toxictwins

    All you who are whining about them tacking on info to have to make the 3rd movie are forgetting about the T-100 arm that the 1000 ripped off in the steel factory. Cameron obvoiusly put that part in in the case of another sequel. So quit your damn whining already! That still doesn't mean this movie needs to be made without Cameron (at least) otherwise it will just be rehashed crap.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 04, 2000 10:21:33 PM CST

    There's room in the story, but...

    by sorcerer

    The big thing about TERMINATOR 2 was that it suggested we might manage to avoid "Judgement Day", that it doesn't need to happen because of the T-800's sacrifice and because he "learned to be human." Sort of a Christ allegory, see. Hence the problem was solved in that film, and reviving it would sorta negate the second film's message. So I don't think TERMINATOR 3 needs to be made, especially after this delay. The franchise has eked out its niche in film history, it doesn't need to go anywhere else.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 04, 2000 10:54:45 PM CST

    ??

    by mr.chupon

    The arm got blown up along with the rest of the lab in T2, didn't it? Including all the tests and records? Or is it...the -other- arm? ^_^U sheesh.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 06, 2000 4:01:21 AM CST

    Various Ramblings...

    by dlhstar

    True, we have seen Arnie as both the evil/good terminator, but perhaps he could come back as human freedom fighter who's looks were used as a template for all those T-800's of his type that followed. It's quite believable that Skynet might have first used actual skinned human flesh for it's T-800 skin design between the rubber skin and realistic skin periods (and then continued to base the skin designs of all those skinned humans, possibly cloning skin cells of those people to grow the flesh).

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 06, 2000 8:20:42 AM CST

    T1 - good, T2 - sucked, it just gets worse...

    by maniaq

    It has already been said, but what the hell... if they really want to they will make another Terminator movie.

    But it WILL suck.

    T2 sucked big time - not only was it's own plot full of hole, it completely defeated what happenned in the first movie and created holes in IT'S plot that weren't there to begin with!

    They should never have messed with a great film - like Reese says in the first film (and I quote) "Nobody else goes through - it's just him and me!"

    'nuff said

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 06, 2000 3:30:14 PM CST

    Eyes Wide.....Shit!

    by xzyzx

    Hey could anyone mess up the Terminator series as bad as this Sin-er-ama post site?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 07, 2000 4:20:16 AM CST

    Terminator Ideas

    by boothroyd

    If they do them well I will see them no matter what. However to me it doesn't really matter what they are like. I wrote a 3rd part over 4 years ago. That has two possible endings. One which makes it a continous loop of events and one which involves one major time theory conondrum. So whatever happens I'm happy. If you E-Mail I'd love to talk Terminator, or anything else for that matter.

    Reply to Talkback

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