Terminator Sequel’s 2017 Release Date Terminated

Paramount Pictures

If you were hoping (or maybe just expecting) to get that next Terminator movie in 2017, guess what? You’re not. THR has reported that the next installment in the franchise—originally slated for May 19, 2017—has been dropped from the release schedule altogether. The studio has replaced it with the possibly more bankable Baywatch reboot/spoof starring Zac Efron and Dwayne Johnson.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the news back in October that plans for the franchise were going to be put on hold after the disappointment of last June’s Terminator: Genisys. Skydance Production’s CCO had stated about said plans: “I wouldn’t say on hold, so much as re-adjusting.” Genisys only did $90 million domestically with a budget of $155 million and was mostly panned by critics and fans, which prompted the pause button to be hit on the whole shebang. At that time though, the studio had still maintained the sequel’s projected release date of May 2017, but—surprise!—now the project is off the 2017 table.

A clunky story, two miscast leads (Emilia Clarke and Jai Courtney), crap CGI, and a PG-13 rating all led to Genisys’ downfall. Adding insult to injury, the market is saturated with potential blockbusters vying for our dollars which makes it harder for the franchise to stand out amongst its peers. That uphill battle becomes even steeper when you take into account that this aint the franchise’s first misstep. 2009’s Terminator: Salvation didn’t suffer as bad of a box office fate as Genisys, but it was disappointing nonetheless. It deviated so much from the central story of the franchise in fact, that not only do casual viewers forget it even existed but many Terminator fans swiftly wrote it off upon its release.

That’s now two back-to-back mistakes with the franchise—the most recent grave enough to have brought future plans to a halt back in October and toss the sequel’s May 2017 release date out the window as of today. Skydance and Paramount have clearly become aware of the necessity to make the next Terminator movie actually good, as it may be their last chance to right this franchise ship. The six-year hiatus between Salvation and Genisys, plus their respective quality, wasn’t enough to make people write off the series, but the quality of the next entry sure could.