James Cameron Explains His Involvement in Terminator: Genesis

Steve Barton   |  

Jun 2, 2014

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If you’re a fan of the Terminator franchise, there’s of course nobody whose involvement in any and all sequels you’d want more than James Cameron, who wrote and directed both the original film and its sequel.

Many fans cite Cameron’s lack of involvement as being the reason subsequent sequels weren’t so great, and if you’re among those fans, you’ll be happy to know that Cameron’s fingers were indeed in the proverbial cookie jar for the latest installment, Terminator: Geneis.

Well, sort of.

Per Slash Film, Cameron was on hand at the recent Hero Complex Film Festival, revealing that while he won’t receive any credit for contributions made to the long-awaited fifth installment, he is nevertheless “loosely attached” to the production, contributing a crucial story element to the film.

According to Cameron, who sold the rights to the franchise long ago, rights-holder Megan Ellison offered him involvement in not just Terminator: Genesis but also the other two sequels that are planned, which he kinda sorta accepted.

“I said ‘Well look. I don’t mind standing behind the curtain and whispering like some court advisory in 15th century Italy or something,'” Cameron explains. “My goal in that was not to insinuate myself artistically but to try to make sure they stayed true to the Terminator character and the idea of Arnold being in it. Because he’s a friend of mine and we’ve been through all the wars together and everything. And I wanted them to see the possibilities I saw for what they could do with this character.”

“And so Arnold is very much front and center in the new Terminator films,” he continued. “So I might have had some tiny effect on it — but obviously they had to make the right financial and creative decisions themselves so I’m not trying to take credit for the film that they’re making but that was my goal in being loosely attached to the film but I won’t have any credit on it.”

Terminator: Genesis will hit theaters on July 1, 2015.

Matt Smith (“Doctor Who”), J.K. Simmons, Dayo Okeniyi, and Byung Hun Lee also star.

Skydance and Annapurna will co-finance along with Paramount with David Ellison producing for Skydance and Megan Ellison producing for Annapurna. Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier penned the script, and Alan Taylor will direct.