Deadline is reporting that James Cameron, Deadpool director Tim Miller and David Ellison of Skydance (Terminator Genisys) are teaming up for a new Terminator movie. Cameron, who will regain the Terminator rights in 2019, is reportedly “godfathering” the new film.
According to the site, Ellison is “bankrolling an exploratory effort that includes engaging some top-flight science fiction authors to find the movie creatively. Ellison still holds many Terminator rights, after his 2013 acquisition from sister and Annapurna principal Megan Ellison. She bought them in 2011 at Cannes for $20 million.”
Cameron sold the rights to the original film for $1 to producer Gale Anne Hurd, with the agreement that Cameron would be allowed to direct The Terminator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The first film earned $78.4 million worldwide and was topped by Cameron’s highly-acclaimed sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which grossed $519.8 million worldwide. Cameron stepped away from the franchise after that film, though three more were made, with the most recent one, Terminator Genisys, having earned $440.6 million globally (though only $89.8 million of that was domestic) on a $155 million budget.
The site adds that they don’t know what form the new Terminator movie will take, whether it will be a reboot or a continuation of Cameron’s first two films. The plan is for Miller to direct with what they come up with, as Cameron will be busy directing the four Avatar sequels.
