A couple days ago, the Los Angeles Times reported that the production company that bought the rights to the Terminator series in 2007 has filed for bankruptcy and is currently shopping the lucrative franchise. Having purchased it for 25 million nearly 2 and a half years ago, Halcyon Holdings is hoping that a sale of the rights will help “make the company solvent again.”  The news of this development suggests that a fifth installment, especially one directed by McG and featuring Christian Bale, is very unlikely. Obviously Salvation didn’t work out the way all parties involved had planned. But that doesn’t mean that Terminator is a dead franchise. Though funds are currently a little tight, here’s how Bill Frat Studios would revive Cameron’s classic if we ended up with the rights…

We would not run away from Salvation:

It’s part of the cannon. There’s no reason to pretend like this movie never existed. Thankfully, a ton didn’t actually “happen” in this chapter. You can still proceed with the “humans vs. machines” storyline without feeling like you need to “rewrite” a lot from Salvation or Rise of the Machines. The direction of the franchise was fine – the John Connor lead–resistance makes for an interesting couple of action movies. It was the tone and execution of the fourth that was way off. So, with Terminator 5, we’d pick up right where we left off – with Connors and Reece leading the struggle.

We’d Honor the Tone of the Original:

Sometimes, a total makeover is a good thing. No one’s blaming Christopher Nolan for making a more ‘serious’ Batman movie than the George Clooney one. But with Terminator, darker wasn’t better. Obviously we wouldn’t make a carbon copy of the original two, but there’s no reason why we can’t attempt to duplicate their ‘feel.’ There was always a light, almost kitschy component to Terminator; the cheesy lines, the humor, the heart – these are all part of the franchise’s DNA. So we’d make sure that all these elements were present in the fifth. Humor is not only a good thing, it’s necessary. Salvation was way too serious.

Villain:

Terminator is a series built on the bad guy, Arnold in the first, T1000 in the second. It didn’t make any sense for the fourth to not have a discernable villain; they stripped the franchise of its bread and butter. At least Rise of the Machines tried with the hot female terminator; she was terrible, but she was still bad. If we bought the rights, you can be damn sure we’re green-lighting a script with a brutal bad machine at the core. It’s not a Terminator movie without one.

Holy Shit Special Effects:

Now this is easier said than done. I don’t know the first thing about special effects - how they’re made, how they’re created, or how they’re executed. But what I do know is that if we’re releasing Terminator 5, you can bet your ass that this movie will have, at least, the best effects of the summer. It’s an unfair precedent Cameron set, but genre-defining action is as much a part of the franchise as is its content and characters. Not to keep picking on Salvation, but everything in that pic, effects-wise, had been seen before. That’s no way to make a Terminator. Again, I don’t what we’d do, but the new chapter would have, at least, one ‘holy shit’ sequence.

We’d Start with One Story to Tell:

In the Terminator lexicon, there’s always a bigger picture. Even the first movie was building to an event that could be explored with a fifth, sixth, or seventh installment. But we wouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. We wouldn’t see the 5^th as part 1 of 2, or 1 of 3 - which is what Salvation was. We’d start with a killer story, wrap it up, and go on to the next one. All with that “big picture” – the human’s inevitable victory over the machines - in mind.

Strong Female:

Why not? Amongst a number of other things, the female protagonist made this franchise unique. The same can be said for the Aliens series. I know the focus is on John Connors, but having a strong, important female character as the second or third lead would be a good thing. Just good luck finding an actress in today’s Hollywood with the butch appeal and biceps of Linda Hamilton. 

Now, I know what you’re saying. “Awesome! These points make total sense, when are you guys buying the rights?” Unfortunately, it just doesn’t look like we’ll be able to raise the 25 – 30 million needed to purchase the Terminator license. But here’s hoping that the team that ends up with this beloved franchise takes into consideration a few of these suggestions.  At least the villain one; just give us a bad guy.

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