Looking at numbers by themselves, 'Terminator Genisys' may be deemed a success, with its domestic and international returns totaling to $440 million. However, the numbers may also suggest that doing a 'Terminator Genisys' sequel may not have the success producers want it to have. Similarly, the future of the planned TV show alongside the 'Terminator Genisys' sequel is uncertain.
According to Forbes, with 'Terminator Genisys' "barely a hit", doing a sequel is a huge risk. Depite earning returns almost double the amoung of its $155 million budget, the movie has not been well-received by critics and has shown a sharp drop in the audience attendance whether in the domestic or international returns.
The $27m opening day in China has barely tripled after 2 weeks and while the opening day was big, the expected trajectory from that big opening failed miserably. 'Terminator Genisys' doesn't come close to the pattern of 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' which earned $30m on its first day towards a $310m total, and 'Jurassic World's' $229m off a $17m opening day. The sharp decline is a pattern domestically and internationally may indicate that it's not well-liked apart from initial curiosity about the film.
Having said that, the movie still had considerable box-office returns. According to Variety, 'Terminator Genisys' is the latest domestic dud that was saved by the international market. However, if 'Terminator Genisys' is meant to have a sequel, it did not set up anything for it nor did it get audiences excited by the possibility of a new Terminator franchise. The sequel is now only eyed because of the money it may bring back, which is not even guaranteed.
According to Movie Pilot, compounding the sequel risk, the earlier reported TV tie-in is still continuing development. With the shaky reception of 'Terminator Genisys', and uncertainty of the sequels commercial and critical success, a TV show hardly answers the problems. If the movies do not spark intrigue and sustain interest in its story, then how is the TV show expected to draw in audiences, at the very least initially. Not to mention, with "many different iterations of the same story", it is a big challenge to make the TV show different and tied with the movies.
While 'Terminator Genisys' is considered a financial success, Paramount has yet to greenlight the supposed sequel which is Terminator 6, and understandably so. Barely a smash hit and definitely not a critical success, the risks are high and unless the studio finds a way to neutralize these, the audiences may hardly support a sequel, let alone a TV series.
Join the Conversation