'Terminator: Dark Fate' director opened up about the movie flopping at the box office and his fights with James Cameron

Travis ClarkNov 24, 2019, 23:09 IST

Paramount

"Terminator: Dark Fate" director Tim Miller opened up about the movie's disappointing box office in a KCRW interview with Kim Masters, the editor-at-large of The Hollywood Reporter.
Miller said that he "could write a book" about why the movie didn't work and that he's still processing the flop.
He said he can't control whether audiences were turned off by past lackluster "Terminator" sequels, which box-office experts have suggested is one reason the movie bombed.
He also described his disagreements with producer James Cameron and how he felt obligated to "fight" for his creative vision.
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"Terminator: Dark Fate" reunited James Cameron, Linda Hamilton, and Arnold Schwarzenegger to little fanfare. Since debuting in theaters earlier this month, "Dark Fate" has made just $235 million worldwide off of a $185 million production budget, and it will likely top out in the coming weeks.

It's a disappointing result considering it received far better reviews than the last installment in the long-running franchise, 2015's "Terminator Genisys," but could leave theaters as the lowest-grossing sequel in the series. "Genisys" earned $440 million worldwide and received an abysmal 27% Rotten Tomatoes critic score compared to "Dark Fate's" 71%. In fact, it's the best reviewed "Terminator" sequel since 1991's "Terminator 2: Judgement Day."

The "Dark Fate" director, Tim Miller, opened up about the movie's disappointing box office on Friday in a KCRW interview with Kim Masters, who is the editor-at-large of The Hollywood Reporter.

"I'm sure we could write a book on why it didn't work," Miller said. "I'm still not sure and I'm processing, but I'm very proud of the movie."

Jeff Bock, the Exhibitor Relations senior box-office analyst, told Business Insider after "Dark Fate's" sluggish opening weekend at the box office that audiences have "had enough" of the "Terminator" franchise after a series of lackluster sequels. Miller told Masters that these are things he "can't control."

"The things they seemed to hate the most about the movie, were things I can't control," Miller said. "I can't control if you didn't like Genisys or you felt betrayed by Terminator 4. I can't help that."

Miller also acknowledged that he was at odds with Cameron on some creative choices. Cameron, who directed the first two "Terminator" movies, returned to the franchise as a producer on "Dark Fate." Miller said that he felt an obligation "to fight" for his vision because "that is what the director is supposed to do."

Miller explained one of those argument's with Cameron in an interview with Business Insider earlier this month. Miller said that the two disagreed on some of the time-travel elements in the movie, and that Miller eventually got his way because Cameron's ideas wouldn't have made sense to the plot.

Miller told Masters that he likely wouldn't work with Cameron again.

"It has nothing to do with whatever trauma I have from the experience," Miller said. "It's more that I just don't want to be in a situation again where I don't have the control to do what I think is right."

Cameron told Deadline in August that "Dark Fate" could launch a new "Terminator" trilogy if it performed well at the box office. With that in mind, "Dark Fate" could be the last "Terminator" movie for a long time.

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'Terminator: Dark Fate' director opened up about the movie flopping at the box office and his fights with James Cameron