Terminator Genisys star Jason Clarke discusses what the film left open to be explored in future Terminator movies, and why it is such pertinent subject matter ten years later. Speaking to CBR’s Joshua Patton, Clarke dug deep into his iteration of John Connor in Terminator Genisys, which reimagined an adult version of the character as the film’s ultimate villain, as well as the seemingly perfect form of Terminator.
When asked if there were any unanswered questions to be revisited from Terminator Genisys, Clarke responded, “It’s a great pity. I wish we’d have gone on for more of that. I really do. You know, I just started with it. And [the studio] changed things around in the edit and stuff. And I was just like, it was a fascinating way to go down, I thought.”
Clarke continued. “And that story is even more and more relevant these days, I think. It needs a new treatment, a much more detailed, smaller treatment, doesn’t it? Because, yeah, the whole idea of where we’re at [with] robotics and AI and everything now.”
Directed by Alan Taylor from a screenplay by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier, Terminator Genisys premiered in 2015, offering audiences a completely different version of the story they experienced in the original Terminator timeline. As a standalone entry in the franchise, Terminator Genisys was free to make some truly drastic changes to the franchise’s established lore, with the film’s story kicking off after an unwitting Kyle Reese creates a temporal paradox that alters time itself.
Alongside Clarke’s John Connor, Terminator Genisys starred Jai Courney as Kyle Reese, Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor, J. K. Simmons as San Francisco Police Detective O’Brien, Matt Smith as an advanced T-5000 Terminator known as Alex, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as a reprogrammed T-800 known as Pops. The film also features appearances by Dayo Okeniyi, Michael Gladis, Byung-Hun Lee, Sandrine Holt, and Coutney B. Vance.
While Terminator Genisys went on to make more than $440 million at the box office against a budget of around $158 million, it failed to make a positive impact with critics. As of the time of writing, Terminator Genisys holds a mere 26% “Fresh” rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, an average of 276 verified critical reviews of the film. Terminator Genisys’ audience-generated “Popcornmeter” score is admittedly better, though not all that positive, at a 52% approval rating, as averaged across more than 50,000 user-submitted reviews.
What’s Next for the Terminator Franchise?
While franchise creator and original director James Cameron has previously confirmed the development of a new Terminator series, it doesn’t seem like the project will be coming anytime soon. When the series was confirmed back in 2024, Cameron noted that it would feature new characters and new storylines, explaining that “You get too inside it, and then you lose a new audience because the new audience cares much less about that stuff than you think they do.”
In September, however, Cameron noted that the development of this new Terminator series hasn’t come easy. “I’m tasked with writing a new Terminator story. I’ve been unable to get started on that very far because I don’t know what to say that won’t be overtaken by real events,” Cameron stated. “We are living in a science fiction age right now.”
Terminator Genisys is streaming now on Paramount+.