''Terminator Genisys'' is a 2015 American

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

that is the fifth installment in the ''Terminator'' franchise. It is a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

of the franchise, taking the premise of the original film in another direction and ignoring the events depicted in sequels and the television series. The film stars

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

, who reprises his role as the Terminator. It is directed by Alan Taylor and written by Laeta Kalogridis and

Patrick Lussier Patrick Lussier is a Canadian-American filmmaker and editor. Career Lussier was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was nominated at the Annual Gemini Awards for Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series for ''Adrift'' in 1994 an ...

. Along with Schwarzenegger, the film's cast features

Jason Clarke Jason Clarke (born 17 July 1969) is an Australian actor. He has appeared in many TV series, and is known for playing Tommy Caffee on the television series '' Brotherhood''. He has also appeared in many films, often as an antagonist. His film r ...

Emilia Clarke Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke (born 23 October 1986) is an English actress, best known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she received nominations for four Primetime E ...

, Jai Courtney, J. K. Simmons, Dayo Okeniyi,

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is known for playing the Eleventh Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Prince Philip in Netflix's historical series ''The Crown ( ...

, Courtney B. Vance,

Michael Gladis Michael Gladis (born August 30, 1977) is an American actor. He played Paul Kinsey in the television series ''Mad Men''; he appeared in the series' first three seasons, and as a guest star in the show's fifth season. Early life Gladis grew up ...

Sandrine Holt Sandrine Claire Holt (born Sandrine Vanessa Ho; 19 November 1972) is a Canadian actress. She was born in London and raised in Toronto. Early life Holt was born Sandrine Vanessa Ho in Croydon. Her middle name was later changed to Claire. Her fa ...

, and

Lee Byung-hun Lee Byung-hun (; born July 12, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He has received acclaim for his work in a wide range of genres, most notably '' Joint Security Area'' (2000); '' A Bittersweet Life'' (2005); '' The Good, the Bad, the Weird'' (2008) ...

. The story follows Kyle Reese, a soldier in a

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

war against Skynet, who is sent from 2029 to 1984 to prevent Sarah Connor's death. When Kyle arrives in the past, he discovers that the timeline has been altered by Skynet and that Sarah has been raised by a reprogrammed Terminator sent to protect her. Sequels for '' Terminator Salvation'' were cancelled after

The Halcyon Company The Halcyon Company was an American media development company headed by Victor Kubicek and Derek Anderson. They were perhaps best known for acquiring the global rights to the ''Terminator (franchise), Terminator'' franchise in 2007 and for produ ...

faced legal issues and filed for bankruptcy. Megan Ellison and her production company, Annapurna Pictures, acquired the franchise rights in May 2011. Skydance Productions, owned by Ellison's brother

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, collaborated the following year on a production of another installment in the series. The Ellisons consulted ''Terminator'' creator

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

and drew inspiration from ''

The Terminator ''The Terminator'' is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, written by Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd and produced by Hurd. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cybernetic assassin sent back in t ...

'' (1984) and its sequel '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' (1991). Principal photography took place primarily in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, but also in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Six companies handled the film's

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action fo ...

, with its prosthetic make-up and animatronics created by Legacy Effects. The film premiered at the

Dolby Theatre The Dolby Theatre (formerly known as the Kodak Theatre) is a live-performance auditorium in the Ovation Hollywood shopping mall and entertainment complex, on Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue (Los Angeles), Highland Avenue, in the Holly ...

in Hollywood on June 28, 2015, and was released in the United States on July 1. It was panned by the critics, who criticized the plot and storyline, although the visual effects, action sequences and Arnold Schwarzenegger's return was praised. ''Terminator Genisys'' grossed $440.6 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of both the series and Schwarzenegger's career, behind ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day''. However, its commercial performance was lower than anticipated, resulting in the cancellation of two planned sequels and a spin-off television series. A video game titled '' Terminator Genisys: Future War'' was released on May 18, 2017, and the film franchise moved forward with '' Terminator: Dark Fate'', released in 2019 as a direct sequel to ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day''.

Plot

In 2029, Human Resistance leader

John Connor John Connor is a fictional character and the male protagonist of the Terminator (franchise), ''Terminator'' franchise. Created by screenwriter, writer/film director, director James Cameron, the character is first referred to in the 1984 film ''Th ...

launches a final offensive against Skynet, an

artificial general intelligence Artificial general intelligence (AGI)—sometimes called human‑level intelligence AI—is a type of artificial intelligence that would match or surpass human capabilities across virtually all cognitive tasks. Some researchers argue that sta ...

system seeking to eliminate the human race. Before the Resistance can triumph, Skynet activates a time machine and sends a T-800/Model 101 Terminator back to 1984, to kill John's mother

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...

. John's right-hand man, Kyle Reese, volunteers to travel back in time to protect her. As Kyle floats in the machine's magnetic field, he sees John being attacked by another Resistance soldier. This creates a

temporal paradox A temporal paradox, time paradox, or time travel paradox, is a paradox, an apparent contradiction, or logical contradiction associated with the idea of time travel or other foreknowledge of the future. While the notion of time travel to the futu ...

that alters the timeline and causes Kyle to experience childhood memories from a parallel version of himself. When it arrives in 1984

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, Skynet's T-800 is disabled by Sarah and "Pops", a reprogrammed T-800. An unknown party had sent Pops to 1973 to protect Sarah when she was nine years old after her parents were killed by a T-1000 sent by Skynet. When Kyle arrives in 1984, he is intercepted by the T-1000, which Sarah and Pops destroy with acid. Sarah and Pops have constructed a makeshift time machine like Skynet's and Sarah plans to stop Skynet by traveling to 1997, the year it becomes self-aware. However, realizing that the past has been altered, Kyle is convinced that the future has also changed. He recalls a warning he received in his childhood vision, convincing Sarah that they instead must travel to 2017 to stop Skynet. After fighting the T-1000, Pops has sustained exterior damage that prevents him from time traveling. He stays in 1984 and plans to meet up with Kyle and Sarah in the future, preparing for their arrival in the meantime. In 2017, Kyle and Sarah materialize in the middle of a busy

highway and are apprehended by city police. While they are treated for injuries, Sarah and Kyle learn that Skynet is called "Genisys"—a soon-to-be-unveiled global

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

which is embraced by the public. John suddenly appears and rescues Sarah and Kyle. Pops arrives and unexpectedly shoots John, revealing that John is now an advanced Terminator. The resistance soldier who attacked John is revealed to have been Skynet in physical disguise as a Terminator. While Kyle was traveling back in time, Skynet attacked John and infected him with nanomachines that converted him into a

cyborg A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.Cyberdyne Systems with the development of Genisys, hence securing Skynet and its machines' rise. Pops fights John before trapping him long enough for them to escape. A day before Skynet's worldwide attack, Sarah, Kyle, and Pops retreat to a

safe house A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is a dwelling place or building whose unassuming appearance makes it an inconspicuous location where one can hide out, take shelter, or conduct clandestine activities. Historical usage It may also refer to ...

and make final preparations to destroy Cyberdyne's Genisys mainframe. They head toward Cyberdyne's headquarters with John in close pursuit. During an airborne chase, Pops dive-bombs into John's helicopter and causes it to crash. John survives the crash and enters the Cyberdyne complex, where it advances the countdown from 13 hours to 15 minutes. Kyle, Sarah, and Pops plant bombs at key points in the facility while holding off John. In a final battle, Pops traps John in the magnetic field of a prototype time machine. Both are destroyed, but just before the explosion, Pops' remains are flung out of the apparatus into a nearby vat of experimental mimetic polyalloy. Kyle and Sarah reach a bunker beneath the facility and the explosion sets off the bombs, preventing Genisys from coming online. Pops appears, upgraded with mimetic polyalloy components like that of the T-1000, and helps them escape from the debris. The trio travels to Kyle's childhood home, where Kyle tells his younger self about Genisys and instructs him to repeat the warning to himself, securing the trio's arrival from 1984. Sarah, Kyle, and Pops drive off into the countryside. A

mid-credits scene A post-credits scene (also known as a stinger, end tag, or credit cookie) is a short teaser clip that appears after the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV show, or video game has run. It is usually i ...

reveals that the system core of Genisys, located in a protected subterranean chamber, has survived the explosion.

Cast

as the Terminator / Pops:
A reprogrammed T-800 Terminator who is Sarah's protector and mentor. ** Brett Azar stood in on-set as the body double for the T-800 Terminator (of the first film who time-traveled to 1984) and the Young Guardian in 1973. *

:
The leader of the Resistance and Kyle's mentor, who was attacked by T-5000 and turned into a

T-3000 The T-3000 is a fictional character and the main antagonist of ''Terminator Genisys'', the fifth installment in the ''Terminator'' series, portrayed by Jason Clarke. In the film, the T-3000 is an alternate timeline counterpart of Skynet's (por ...

Terminator composed of machine phase matter. *

as Sarah Connor:
Pops' protégée and destined to be John's mother. ** Willa Taylor as Young Sarah * Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese:
A Resistance soldier and John's protégé destined to be John's father. ** Bryant Prince as Young Kyle * J. K. Simmons as O'Brien:
An alcoholic police detective from the

San Francisco Police Department The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is the Municipal police, municipal law enforcement agency of the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco, as well as San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County, California, San Ma ...

(SFPD) and former Marine who investigates time travelers, particularly Terminators. ** Wayne Bastrup as Young O'Brien:
An

LAPD The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

beat cop in 1984 who witnesses the encounter between Kyle and the T-1000. * Dayo Okeniyi as Danny Dyson:
Miles's son and Cyberdyne Systems' president; he co-creates the operating system Genisys with John Connor. *

(credited as Matthew Smith) as Alex:
An advanced T-5000 Terminator who embodies Skynet. Alex's appearance is also used by Skynet as a holographic avatar in 2017. ** Ian Etheridge as Skynet, age 10. ** Nolan Gross as Skynet, age 12–14. ** Seth Meriwether as Skynet, age 18. * Courtney B. Vance as Miles Dyson:
Cyberdyne Systems' CEO who funds the Genisys project. *

as Lieutenant Matias:
A SFPD police lieutenant and O'Brien's superior. *

as Detective Cheung:
A SFPD police detective. * Byung-Hun Lee as Cop / T-1000:
A shapeshifting prototypical Terminator composed of mimetic polyalloy.

Production

Development

Although '' Terminator Salvation'' was intended to begin a new

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

, the production of a fifth film was put on hold because of legal issues with franchise owner

the Halcyon Company The Halcyon Company was an American media development company headed by Victor Kubicek and Derek Anderson. They were perhaps best known for acquiring the global rights to the ''Terminator (franchise), Terminator'' franchise in 2007 and for produ ...

(which filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

bankruptcy in August 2009). To avoid bankruptcy, Halcyon later decided to sell the rights to the franchise and valued the property at $70 million. On February 8, 2010, the franchise was auctioned for $29.5 million to Pacificor, a hedge fund which was the largest creditor in Halcyon's bankruptcy proceedings. The deal erased Halcyon's debts to Pacificor and guaranteed Halcyon $5 million for each additional Terminator sequel produced, to pay other outstanding debts. Pacificor sold the franchise again in May 2010. In August of that year, Hannover House announced plans to develop a 3D animated film titled ''Terminator 3000''. Pacificor responded with a

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the oth ...

letter, declining a $20–30 million offer from Hannover for the rights to produce the film. In February 2011,

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

considered investing in a fifth ''Terminator'' film with

returning to the title role, ''

Fast & Furious ''Fast & Furious'', also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'', is an American Action film, action media franchise centered on a series of films revolving around street racing, heist film, heists, and spy film, spies. The franchise also inclu ...

'' director

Justin Lin Justin Lin (, born October 11, 1971) is a Taiwanese Americans, Taiwanese-American film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. His films have grossed over $3 billion USD worldwide . He is best known for his directorial work on ...

at the helm and Chris Morgan as the screenwriter. In late April 2011, a proposed ''Terminator'' package, dropping Morgan and adding producer Robert W. Cort, was presented to

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

and

CBS Films CBS Films Inc. was an American film production and distribution company founded in 2007 as a subsidiary of CBS Corporation and was considered a Major film studio#Mini-majors, mini-major studio up until 2019. CBS Films originally was planned t ...

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

(MGM) had a 30-day right of first refusal to finance and distribute ''Terminator 5'' since 2006. It was eventually picked up by Megan Ellison and her production company, Annapurna Pictures, in May 2011 after they purchased at auction the rights to make at least two more ''Terminator'' films. The deal was finalized on December 4, 2012; the final price was reportedly less than the auction pledge because new copyright laws had raised concerns that the rights would revert to ''Terminator'' creator

in 2019. Ellison's brother

and others from his

Skydance Productions Skydance Media, LLC, also known as Skydance Productions, is an American entertainment company, media production company, production and finance company based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by David Ellison in 2006, the company specializes i ...

agreed to co-produce the film. After acquiring the rights to the franchise, Megan Ellison asked Cameron for input on the new film. Cameron met several times with David Ellison, where they discussed Schwarzenegger's role and how to remain true to the T-800 character. Director Justin Lin had to leave the project because of his involvement in ''

Fast & Furious 6 ''Fast & Furious 6'' (titled onscreen as ''Furious 6'') is a 2013 action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Fast Five'' (2011) and the sixth installment in the '' Fast & Furious'' franchise. The fil ...

''. Two screenwriters, Laeta Kalogridis of '' Shutter Island'' and

of '' Drive Angry'', were commissioned to write the screenplay in January 2013. Kalogridis and Lussier turned down the project three times, but Cameron persuaded them to accept it.

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

(which has a financing and distribution deal with Skydance) was confirmed as the distributor in June 2013, when they and the producers announced a release date of June 26, 2015.

Rian Johnson Rian Craig Johnson (born December 17, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He made his directorial debut with the neo-noir mystery film ''Brick (film), Brick'' (2005), which received positive reviews and grossed nearly $4 million on a $450,000 budget ...

Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, OAL (; ; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He has received seven Canadian Screen Awards as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, and two ...

and

Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. His films are known for their emotional charge and exploration of repressed, hidden emotions. During his career, he has received international critical and popular acclaim and List o ...

were approached to take over direction from Lin, but '' Thor: The Dark World'' director Alan Taylor was selected in September 2013.

Storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of simple illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding proce ...

artist Jane Wu, Taylor's girlfriend, urged him to turn down the offer after reading the script, insisting him that he should direct something more personal and that he loved, but Taylor was persuaded and tempted with the prospect of working with Schwarzenegger, who impressed him during their meetings and the chance to build on the legacy of Cameron's franchise respectively. Taylor felt that he should direct the film due to his love for the first two ''Terminator'' films, believing that he could "fix" the script and make the film work. In January 2014, Megan Ellison announced that Annapurna was no longer credited on the film; Skydance and Paramount would provide funding and Ellison would be credited as an executive producer.

Casting

On June 13, 2013, Schwarzenegger said that he would return for his fourth film as the Terminator. By early November, Garrett Hedlund was under consideration for the role of Kyle Reese and Taylor wanted Tom Hardy to portray John Connor. That month the choice for Sarah Connor was narrowed to

Tatiana Maslany Tatiana Gabriele Maslany ( ; born September 22, 1985) is a Canadian actress. She rose to prominence for playing multiple characters in the science-fiction thriller television series ''Orphan Black'' (2013–2017), which won her a Primetime Emmy ...

and

Brie Larson Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers (born October 1, 1989), known professionally as Brie Larson, is an American actress. She played supporting roles in comedies as a teenager, and has since expanded to leading roles in independent films and Blockbuste ...

, and Clarke was selected in December. Paramount had wanted Larson for the role, but Taylor preferred Emilia Clarke. In December 2013,

, who is not related to Emilia, was in negotiations to play John Connor. Jason Clarke was David Ellison's first choice for the role. He was impressed by Clarke's performance in Megan Ellison's film ''

Zero Dark Thirty ''Zero Dark Thirty'' is a 2012 American political action thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. Produced by Boal, Bigelow, and Megan Ellison, and independently financed by Ellison's Annapurna Pictures, the film ...

'' (2012). In February 2014, the studio considered Jai Courtney and Boyd Holbrook as Reese, and later that month Courtney was confirmed for the role. J. K. Simmons began talks for the role of Detective O'Brien in March. According to late-March announcements, Dayo Okeniyi would play Danny Dyson and

and

joined the cast (Lee in a key role).

was confirmed as a cast member in May, followed by Douglas Smith in June.

Writing

The film's producers, David Ellison and Dana Goldberg, worked with writers Laeta Kalogridis and

to devise the story. Kalogridis and Lussier were invited to write the script while they worked on another project with Ellison and Goldberg. They agreed to write a ''Terminator'' film when Cameron, a friend of Kalogridis who worked with her in ''

Avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

'', gave it his blessing. The starting point of the script was to retain Schwarzenegger as a central character, unlike the ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' reboot with

Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy ( ; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor and director, famous for playing Spock in the ''Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes Development of Spock, originating Spock in Star Trek: T ...

as an older

Spock Spock is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS ''Enterpri ...

in a minor role. They had to write in the actor (now 67 years old) and followed a suggestion by Cameron that the Terminator's living-tissue exterior was vulnerable to

aging Ageing (or aging in American English) is the process of becoming Old age, older until death. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi; whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentiall ...

and their idea of Skynet sending a Terminator after an infant Sarah Connor. Kalogridis and Lussier extended this to the core characters of Kyle, Sarah and John Connor, despite each being from a different time period. Although the writers reportedly enjoyed '' Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'', they opted to escape its suggestion that

Judgment Day The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

is inevitable because of a causal loop in favor of all ''Terminator'' timelines existing simultaneously in a

multiverse The multiverse is the hypothetical set of all universes. Together, these universes are presumed to comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describ ...

. To map out the timelines and plot, Kalogridis and Lussier had five

whiteboard A whiteboard (also known as marker board, dry-erase board, dry-wipe board, and pen-board) is a glossy, usually white surface for making non-permanent markings. Whiteboards are analogous to blackboards, but with a smoother surface allowing for ...

s "covering every wall in the office". They eventually reached a central plot thread in which the Skynet of one universe, defeated in several timelines, sent the T-5000 to the ''Genisys'' timeline hoping to defeat the humans by "having the best weapon that humans have": John Connor. The first draft of the screenplay, to attract a director, was delivered in July 2013. Few changes were made to the script from that point onward. One expansive scene that was removed from the final script would have explained what Sarah Connor's life was like with Pops. The film is inspired by the first two ''Terminator'' films from Cameron – ''

'' and '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' – while largely ignoring the two subsequent films that came before ''Genisys''. Concepts from the second movie, such as the T-1000, are featured, but its events are disregarded; the 2029 that is depicted in ''Genisys'' is one in which the attack on the Cyberdyne building either had no effect on Skynet's development or did not happen at all, as August 29, 1997 is still the date of Judgment Day in that timeline. David Ellison described the film and its intended film trilogy as standalone projects based on Cameron's original ''Terminator'' films. Ellison said the film is neither a sequel or a prequel to previous ''Terminator'' films, saying "For us this is Terminator 1, this is not Terminator 5". A Skydance executive said, "It's not a traditional remake, nor is it a continuation or a sequel, nor is it exactly a reboot. In a sense, it's a reimagining". The film features seven different time periods, with 1984 and 2017 being the primary setting for the story. Taylor said the film's storyline would be more complex in comparison to the original two films because of its time-travel aspect. He also described the original ''Terminator'' film as a love story and the second as a father/son story and said that ''Genisys'' would be a combination of the two ideas, including a focus on the aspect of a dysfunctional family. David Ellison said the film was inspired by the idea of

technological singularity The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable consequences for human civilization. According to the ...

, stating that in reality, humans are addicted to technology "to the point where it's easy to imagine a world where Skynet has infiltrated every single aspect of your life, and you didn't fight it - you invited it in."

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began on April 21, 2014, in

. The film shot under the code name ''Vista'', a possible reference to the Terminator's " hasta la vista" line in ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day''. The first unit shot the film over a total of 90 days, in high definition. An early sequence from ''The Terminator'' is recreated in ''Terminator Genisys'', in which Kyle Reese and a T-800 arrive in 1984 from the future. Because the original film was owned by a different company, the filmmakers did not have the rights to use its opening sequence in ''Terminator Genisys'' and instead had to recreate the scenes. In addition, Taylor explained that the original footage would not look right with the rest of the film due to its grain quality. The sequence was shot within the first two weeks of filming. The T-800's arrival in 1984 takes place at

Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the Amer ...

in Los Angeles, a location that was recreated as a set in New Orleans. To authentically recreate one of the scenes, costume designer Susan Matheson had Nike produce new pairs of discontinued Nike Vandal sneakers for Courtney to wear. Matheson had initially searched for a pair of the sneakers, but the ones that she came across did not look new enough for the scene. Matheson eventually spoke to Paramount, which convinced Nike to produce 25 pairs of Vandal sneakers for the film. For certain scenes, the production tried to match the cinematography of the first two ''Terminator'' films. Scenes set in 1984 favored blue, green and black tones to match the look of ''The Terminator'' and those set during the future war against the machines were modeled after similar scenes in ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day''. For the future soldiers, arm and shoulder pieces were made of rubber car mats which had been cut up and aged to simulate makeshift armor that the soldiers had salvaged. Legacy Effects, successor to Stan Winston Studio, created the Terminator

robotic Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

and

make-up Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources or created syn ...

effects, led by John Rosengrant (who worked on the previous four ''Terminator'' films). Jeff Dawn, lead make-up artist for the first three installments, did not return. To prepare for his role, Jason Clarke observed Edward Furlong's performance as John Connor in ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day''. For a scene in which John Connor delivers a motivational speech to his troops, Jason Clarke referred to passages from ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'', ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1216–1281 ...

'' and a

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...

speech. Courtney watched the previous ''Terminator'' films for context and inspiration, but did not seek to replicate the performances of actors who portrayed Kyle Reese in those films. Courtney and Emilia Clarke underwent physical training to prepare for their roles. Courtney had to slim down his physique to appear less imposing. Clarke also went through training for scenes involving weapons and stunts and had to change her hair color for the role. Clarke, who is from the UK, adopted an American accent. One scene is shot as a flashback to the 1970s, during which young Sarah Connor is played by Taylor's 11-year-old daughter, Willa Taylor. Oracle-October2011

Filming in New Orleans included NASA'S

Michoud Assembly Facility The Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) is an industrial complex for the manufacture and assembly line, structural assembly of aerospace vehicles and components. It is owned by NASA and located in Eastern New Orleans, New Orleans East, a section of N ...

, where a set was constructed to portray part of the Cyberdyne facility's interior, as well as its time machine. Michoud was the only location in Louisiana tall enough to contain the set. Filming took place there during July 2014. The

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, California, by Larry Ellison, who remains executive chairman, Oracle was ...

headquarters in

Redwood City Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in the Bay Area of Northern California, approximately south of San Francisco and northwest of San Jose. The city's population was 84,292 according to the 2020 census. The Port of Redwo ...

served as the exterior of Cyberdyne; Oracle was founded by the Ellisons' father, Larry. Filming at the Oracle headquarters, including interior scenes, took place at the end of July 2014. In early August 2014, filming took place at the Bay Bridge and

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...

in San Francisco. Scenes involving cable cars and stunt automobiles were shot on San Francisco's California Street from the night of August 4 to the early hours of August 5, 2014. Because of the late-night filming, the production team had to receive approval from residents and business owners in the area; nearly 99 percent of them approved the shoot. Filming would also take place on

Mission Street Mission Street is a north-south arterial thoroughfare in Daly City and San Francisco, California that runs from Daly City's southern border to San Francisco's northeast waterfront. The street and San Francisco's Mission District through which ...

, in which extras flee from a threat which would be added in later through computer-generated technology. The scenes would depict chaotic city scenes. Subtle action scenes were also scheduled to continue at the Golden Gate Bridge. One scene features a school bus that is flipped through the air while driving on the Golden Gate Bridge. A 500-foot-long replica of the bridge was built in New Orleans for the shot involving the bus flip, something that was done without visual effects. Scroggins Aviation Mockup & Effects was called in to fabricate and build the Police AS350 and Coast Guard A109 helicopter mock-ups for the production. On August 6, 2014, it was announced that filming had concluded and that the official title would be ''Terminator Genisys'' rather than ''Terminator Genesis''. Ellison later said about the film's ''Genisys'' title, "It didn't work. The actual thought process behind it was, we were kind of playing on words a la

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

. And it's in reference to genesis, which is in reference to the singularity and the man-machine hybrid that John Connor ends up beginning. Also, if you pronounce it a different way it signals a new beginning. So it was kind of a play on words and it did not come across that way." At one point during post-production, the mid-credits scene was included at the end of the film, before the credits. Taylor decided to make it a mid-credits scene after getting reactions from test audiences.

Visual effects

Visual-effects supervisor Janek Sirrs oversaw approximately 1,200 visual-effects shots generated at

Double Negative A double negative is a construction occurring when two forms of grammatical negation are used in the same sentence. This is typically used to convey a different shade of meaning from a strictly positive sentence ("You're not unattractive" vs "You ...

, Moving Picture Company (MPC),

Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American Film, motion picture visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio founded by George Lucas on May 26, 1975. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lu ...

(ILM), Lola VFX, One of Us and

Method Studios Method Studios is a visual effects company launched in 1999 in Los Angeles, California with facilities in New York, Atlanta, Vancouver, San Francisco, Melbourne, Montreal, and Pune. The company provides production and post-production services ...

. Double Negative was the lead company, with 900 shots which included the T-1000, T-5000 and T-3000 Terminators, the helicopter and bus-chase scenes and the Cyberdyne explosion. The complexity of the T-3000, which had to be shown as a living mass of nanomites with the ability to transform in successive layers, required as much as 20 hours to render a single frame. The mechanical cells aimed to resemble the material on

stealth aircraft Stealth aircraft are designed to avoid detection using a variety of technologies that reduce reflection/emission of radar, infrared, visible light, radio frequency (RF) spectrum, and audio, collectively known as stealth technology. The F-117 Ni ...

, with a result described as "more

matte Matte may refer to: Art * paint with a non-glossy finish. See diffuse reflection. * a framing element surrounding a painting or watercolor within the outer frame Film * Matte (filmmaking), filmmaking and video production technology * Matte pai ...

than metal" and resembling a slightly-

iridescent Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear gradually to change colour as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Iridescence is caused by wave interference of light in microstruc ...

ceramic carbon. Since the T-3000 was a man transformed into a robot, the design aimed for a human shape streamlined for better combat efficiency. The T-1000 was built from

fluid simulation Fluid animation refers to computer graphics techniques for generating realistic animations of fluids such as water and smoke. Fluid animations are typically focused on emulating the qualitative visual behavior of a fluid, with less emphasis place ...

s, their environments filmed with high-resolution cameras to ensure proper reflection. Its acid destruction was realistically depicted after studies of acids burning aluminum ingots and other metal. Double Negative's artists shot many reference plates of San Francisco, including scans of the Golden Gate Bridge, to ensure that the city was recreated properly in the bus and helicopter chases. MPC's most elaborate effect was the digital recreation of the original Terminator, which required 12 months for 35 shots (completed 30 minutes before the final print was submitted to the studio). Performance capture was used only for facial animation, since Schwarzenegger was scanned reading his lines. The studio's artists studied archive footage of the actor, focusing mainly on ''The Terminator'' and '' Pumping Iron'' and were given a 1984

plaster cast A plaster cast is a copy made in plaster of another 3-dimensional form. The original from which the cast is taken may be a sculpture, building, a face, a pregnant belly, a fossil or other remains such as fresh or fossilised footprints – ...

of him. On set, the fight between both Terminators had Schwarzenegger and Brett Azar (a bodybuilder chosen for his resemblance to the actor in 1984) and, in more dangerous scenes, Azar and a stunt double—requiring effects artists to replace the face of Pops. MPC also handled the future battle, with set extensions and Skynet robots and vehicles based on models by Legacy Effects. ILM did the opening scene – in which San Francisco is wiped out on Judgment Day, inspired by the Los Angeles nuclear destruction in ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' – and the Terminator vision. For the IMAX 3D release, the film was remastered with IMAX DMR technology to create 3D effects and a high-resolution film print.

Music

Christophe Beck Jean-Christophe Beck (born in 1968) is a Canadian television and film score composer. He is best known for his collaborations with Disney and its subsidiaries, which include composing the soundtracks of '' The Muppets'' (2011) and '' Muppets Mos ...

was initially hired to score the film, but was replaced by

Lorne Balfe Lorne Balfe (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish composer of film, television and video game scores. A veteran of Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions, Balfe's scoring credits include the films '' Megamind'', ''Penguins of Madagascar'', ...

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, five Grammy Awards, and has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards and a Tony ...

joined in as an executive music producer. Balfe aimed to create a soundtrack which stood in its own, since ''Terminator Genisys'' is "not a prequel and not a sequel", incorporating Brad Fiedel's iconic theme in ''The Terminator'', as it had "a nod to the past but also bring it into the future." The soundtrack was released by

Paramount Music Paramount Music is an American record label. It serves as the in-house label for film and television music across all divisions of Paramount Pictures. Soundtracks See also * List of record labels * Paramount Records (1969) * Famous Music F ...

and

Skydance Media Skydance Media, LLC, also known as Skydance Productions, is an American entertainment company, media production company, production and finance company based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by David Ellison in 2006, the company specializes i ...

on June 17, 2015. Chinese pop singer Jane Zhang (in her first English-language recording) and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

artist

Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. He met Kanye West as a teenager, and signed with his record label GOOD Music, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings in 2007. He gained popul ...

(in his musical feature film debut) contributed "Fighting Shadows", released by

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

on June 30, 2015, as a soundtrack bonus track.

Release

Marketing and controversy

Photos of the cast were shot by ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' and published in October 2014, providing a first look at the film's characters. The photos received various criticism. On December 2, 2014, Paramount released the film's first motion poster, showing a T-800 disintegrating into dust before the logo appeared. A preview trailer was released the following day, with brief clips from the film accompanied by " I'd Love to Change the World" by Jetta. Differing from past ''Terminator'' releases, the preview had forced-looking camera motion in aerial-effect scenes and a first look at the

color grading Color grading is a post-production process common to filmmaking and video editing of altering the appearance of an image for presentation in different environments on different devices. Various attributes of an image such as contrast (vision), ...

used to evoke the look of past films. The full trailer debuted on December 4. A second trailer (released in April 2015) was noted for spoiling the scene in which John Connor becomes a Terminator, a decision criticized by Alan Taylor and the writers. At the

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

event ''

WrestleMania 31 WrestleMania 31 was a 2015 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards, event produced by WWE. It was the 31st annual WrestleMania and took place on March 29, 2015, at Levi's S ...

'', the film was promoted with an elaborate entrance stage for wrestler

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer. Levesque began his wres ...

. On the stage, Triple H donning a Terminator outfit and a video played of Schwarzenegger saying: "Judgment Day is here. It's time to play the game." Several brands were promotional partners. On June 14, Schwarzenegger visited

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by O ...

for an advance screening of ''Terminator Genisys''. Two days later,

Waze Waze Mobile Ltd, (; ) doing business as Waze (), formerly FreeMap Israel, is a subsidiary company of Google that provides satellite navigation software on smartphones and other computers that support the Global Positioning System (GPS). In ad ...

added Schwarzenegger's Terminator voice as a voice-navigation option. Schwarzenegger released a video that day of himself walking around Hollywood dressed as the Terminator and posing as a wax model at Madame Tussauds Hollywood. The video promoted a fundraising contest to benefit the After-School All-Stars which would bring selected donors to the ''Terminator Genisys'' premiere. Several

YouTubers A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

appeared with Schwarzenegger in a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

miniseries, ''Terminator Genisys: The YouTube Chronicles'', produced by Heresy and released on June 22. Consisting of videos uploaded by

Machinima Machinima () is the use of Real-time computing, real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. The word "Machinima" is a portmanteau of the words ''machine'' and ''Film, cinema''. According to Guinness World Records, ma ...

Lilly Singh Lilly Singh (born September 26, 1988) is a Canadian YouTuber, television host, comedian and author. She began making YouTube videos in 2010. She originally appeared under the pseudonym Superwoman (stylized IISuperwomanII), her YouTube username ...

and Toby Turner (who also plays the T-360, a similar model of the T-1000), the series also included Eliot Dewberry, Ricky Hayberg, Olga Kay, Sean Klitzner, Lloyd Ahlquist and Matthew Santoro. The series was directed by Charles Paek and written by Jay Bushman. On June 24, Schwarzenegger spoke to attendees of an early fan screening of the movie in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

(announced on

Reddit Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...

), which was followed by an interview and selfie session.

Theatrical

''Terminator Genisys'' saw its European premiere in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, on June 21, 2015, and had its North American premiere at the

in Hollywood one week later, on June 28. The film was first released in ten markets on June 25; the following week, it was released in 35 countries (including the United States) in regular,

RealD 3D RealD 3D is a digital stereoscopic projection technology made and sold by RealD. It is currently the most widely used technology for watching 3D films in theaters. Worldwide, RealD 3D is installed in more than 26,500 auditoriums by approximatel ...

and

IMAX 3D IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating, with ...

formats. On July 26 the film was playing in 64 countries outside North America, and was released in China on August 23, 2015.

Home media

The film was released for digital download on October 20, 2015, and was released by Paramount Home Entertainment on DVD,

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and Blu-ray 3D on November 10. ''Terminator Genisys'' debuted as the bestselling Blu-ray and the most-rented film of the week and was second in overall home-video sales to '' Inside Out''. It has grossed over $25.1 million in total domestic video sales, bringing the film's gross to $465.3 million. A 4K UHD Blu-ray release occurred on June 12, 2018.

Reception

Box office

''Terminator Genisys'' grossed $89.7 million in the United States and Canada and $350.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $440.6 million. Of the ''Terminator'' franchise, only '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' earned more at the box office. Because of its $155 million production budget and an estimated $50–100 million spent on marketing, ''

Bloomberg Business ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

'' reported that the film would have needed to earn at least $450 million in its theatrical run to break even. In August 2015 ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' cited ''Terminator Genisys'' as the first American film to earn $400 million worldwide without grossing $100 million in North America, earnings comparable to the French film ''

The Intouchables ''The Intouchables'' (, ), also known as ''Untouchable'' in the UK, Ireland, and Scandinavia, is a 2011 French buddy comedy-drama film written and directed by Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache. It stars François Cluzet and Omar Sy. The plo ...

''. It was the first Hollywood release to earn $100 million in China and less than that in North America; both were duplicated the following summer by ''

Warcraft ''Warcraft'' is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of six core games: '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', '' Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'', '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos ...

''.

North America

The film opened on July 1, 2015, in the United States and Canada (the same day as the comedy-drama '' Magic Mike XXL'') in 3,700 theaters and previewed the previous evening in 2,527 theaters. The two films and the holdovers ''

Jurassic World ''Jurassic World'' is a 2015 American science fiction action film directed by Colin Trevorrow, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Derek Connolly from a story by Jaffa and Silver. It is the first installment in the ...

'' and '' Inside Out'' were each projected to earn $45–55 million during the

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

holiday period and $27–30 million over the three-day weekend. Box-office analysts noted that ''Terminator Genisys'' would have to compete with ''Jurassic World'' and, to some extent, ''

Ted 2 ''Ted 2'' (stylized as ''ted2'') is a 2015 American fantasy comedy film. The sequel to ''Ted (film), Ted'' (2012), the film was co-produced and directed again by Seth MacFarlane, who co-wrote the script with returning writers Alec Sulkin and Wel ...

'' for male moviegoers. They expected the film to have the upper hand, replacing ''Jurassic World'' in

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

theaters, but good earnings were needed internationally to make up any deficits. It made $2.3 million from the Tuesday-night preview—a record for Paramount Pictures, surpassing the $2.1 million earned by ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'' (2014)—and $8.9 million on its Wednesday opening day. The film earned $42.4 million over the five-day opening stretch, including $27 million from 3,758 theaters over the weekend, placing it third at the box office behind ''Jurassic World'' and ''Inside Out''. Scott Mendelson of ''

'' suggested several possible explanations for its box-office performance: poor marketing, negative reviews, competition from the family-friendly ''Jurassic World'' and ''Inside Out'', the decline of Schwarzenegger's star power and American indifference to another ''Terminator'' film.

Other territories

During the weekend of August 2, 2015, ''Terminator Genisys'' was playing in 65 countries (including the US and Canada); the film was released in China on August 23. Comparisons of overseas box-office performance were made with Paramount's '' Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol'' (2011), ''

Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The '' Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geological Pacific Ring of Fire. List ...

'', ''

Lucy Lucy is an English language, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings ar ...

'' and '' World War Z'' rather than the preceding '' Terminator Salvation'' (2009) and the other ''Terminator'' films. The film was released in ten countries before its North American debut beginning on June 25, earning $8.4 million over its opening weekend. During its second weekend it expanded to 46 countries, earning $73.3 million and topping the international box office before being passed by '' Minions'' the following weekend. The film led in box-office receipts outside North America for four non-consecutive weekends. ''Terminator Genisys'' had the franchise's biggest opening and Schwarzenegger's best in Singapore ($1.4 million) and Colombia ($1.3 million); both exceeded the opening of ''Terminator Salvation'' and that of 28 other countries, including Russia, Korea and Mexico. The film topped the box office in Peru, Vietnam, Turkey and 28 other countries, was Paramount's biggest Argentine opening ($2.3 million), and was the biggest July opening and the fifth-biggest of all time in Russia and the CIS ($12.5 million). In the U.K. and Brazil it opened behind '' Minions'', earning $5.8 million and $3.9 million, respectively and was second in France to '' Les Profs 2'' with $3.8 million. Other notable openings were in South Korea ($11.2 million), Mexico ($6.1 million), Japan ($5.4 million), Australia ($4.4 million), Germany ($3.1 million) and India ($3 million). Its largest markets outside the US and Canada were South Korea ($23.5 million), Russia ($21.8 million), Japan ($19 million) the UK ($16.1 million) and Brazil ($11.1 million). ''Terminator Genisys'' earned $2.2 million from Chinese midnight showings (the fourth-largest of all time) and $27.4 million on its opening day, the fourth-biggest opening day of all time for a Hollywood film (behind ''

Furious 7 ''Furious 7'' (also known as ''Fast & Furious 7'') is a 2015 action film directed by James Wan and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Fast & Furious 6'' (2013) and '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006) and the seventh i ...

'', '' Avengers: Age of Ultron'' and '' Transformers: Age of Extinction''). It topped the international box office with a one-day gross from China. The film earned $82.8 million in its eight-day opening week (Sunday to Sunday), $58 million from Monday to Sunday and $23.4 million in its three-day opening weekend (Friday to Sunday). As of September 12, 2015, ''Terminator Genisys'' had grossed $112.8 million in China.

Critical response

Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reports an approval rating of 26% based on 278 reviews, with an average rating of 4.70/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Mired in its muddled mythology, ''Terminator: Genisys'' is a lurching retread that lacks the thematic depth, conceptual intelligence, or visual thrills that launched this once-mighty franchise." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

to critic reviews, the film has a score of 38 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' said critics found the film to be a "messy sequel" that was a "convoluted retread" of past films. According to ''

TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news organization that covers the business of entertainment and media. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009 and is based in Los Angeles. The site features original reporting, analysis, and editor ...

'', critics found the time travel storyline to be "convoluted" and that the performances were "unremarkable" aside from Schwarzenegger reprising his role.

Joe Morgenstern Joe Morgenstern (born October 3, 1932) is an American writer and retired film critic. He wrote for ''Newsweek'' from 1965 to 1983, and then for ''The Wall Street Journal'' from 1995 to 2022. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2005. Morge ...

of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' criticized the film, saying that it "plays like the worst of all outcomes". James Rocchi of ''TheWrap'' compared it negatively to ''

'', writing that ''Genisys'' "comes back from the past to water down a whole season of summer moviegoing". Michael Phillips of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' criticized the film's lack of originality, calling it "simply business and dull business at that".

Mark Kermode Mark Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter, author and podcaster. He is the co-presenter (with Ellen E. Jones) of the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Screenshot'', and co-presenter ...

of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' described it as "marginally better than ''Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'' or ''Terminator Salvation'' but still light years short of either ''The Terminator'' or ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day''", considering it "utterly unnecessary (if occasionally entertaining)". He added, "Cameron's original 80s production wrung rip-roaring rewards from a smart script and a small budget, but this bloated, smashy-crashy behemoth lacks the role-reversal wit that turned the action of 1991's ''T2'' into something more than mere spectacle." Alan Jones of ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' awarded the film two stars out of five, writing "Confusing time travel, lacklustre spectacle and bland casting earmark this unexceptional reboot of James Cameron's classic cyborg v man franchise for the smartphone generation." He also regarded the "CG action" as "unimaginative". Michael O'Sullivan of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' enjoyed the film: "''Genisys'' goes back to what made the franchise work in the first place: not the machine inside the man, but vice versa." Richard Lawson of '' Vanity Fair'' also gave a positive review, writing that the film "makes a surprisingly compelling case" for itself. After seeing a pre-release screening of the film, Cameron voiced his support for ''Terminator Genisys''. Describing it as respectful to the first two films, Cameron said he felt like "the franchise has been reinvigorated". However, in 2017, following the film's performance, Cameron recanted his statement and said that he had only supported the film because of his friendship with Schwarzenegger. Actress Emilia Clarke expressed relief to discover there would not be any sequels following the film's underwhelming box office performance. In reference to the film's director Alan Taylor, with whom she had worked on ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

'', Clarke said, "He was eaten and chewed up on ''Terminator''. He was not the director I remembered. He didn't have a good time. No one had a good time." In a 2021 interview with ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' while promoting ''

The Many Saints of Newark ''The Many Saints of Newark'' (marketed with the subtitle ''A Sopranos Story'') is a 2021 American crime drama film directed by Alan Taylor and written by David Chase and Lawrence Konner. A prequel to Chase's HBO crime drama series ''The Sop ...

'', Taylor admitted as having "lost the will to make movies and to live as a director" after his experience directing ''Genisys'' and ''Thor: The Dark World'', causing him to enter into a depression. He credited his work on a television pilot based on the novel '' Roadside Picnic'' and in the

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series '' Electric Dreams'' for helping him to come out of his depression upon rediscovering the joy of filmmaking by making "a couple really tiny things" slowly, smaller and personal like the films he did as a film student. The production of the film was seen as so disastrous that a nearby crew filming for ''

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'' even had jackets made that read "AT LEAST WE’RE NOT ON TERMINATOR."

Accolades

At the 2015 Teen Choice Awards, ''Terminator Genisys'' earned two nominations for Choice Summer Movie and Choice Summer Movie Star: Female (Emilia Clarke). It was also nominated at the

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for Best Summer 2015 Blockbuster. At the 42nd Saturn Awards, the film received a nomination for Best Science Fiction Film.

Other media

Cancelled sequels and television series

In December 2013, ''

'' reported that a television series was in the works, which would tie into a new ''Terminator'' film trilogy. Sequels to ''Terminator Genisys'' were scheduled for release on May 19, 2017, and June 29, 2018, under the tentative titles of ''Terminator 2'' and ''Terminator 3'', but they were ultimately cancelled. The two sequels were to be filmed back to back during nine months of continuous shooting. The storylines for the two sequels were devised by Kalogridis and Lussier. The new trilogy would have explained who sent Pops back to protect Sarah Connor. J. K. Simmons would have had further involvement in the new trilogy, and Dayo Okeniyi would have had a significant role reprising Danny Dyson in the second film, which would have focused on John Connor's life after becoming part machine. Jason Clarke said about the cancelled ''Genisys'' sequel: Development stalled in 2015 after ''Terminator Genisys'' under-performed at the box office. On October 1, 2015, ''The Hollywood Reporter'' confirmed that the sequels and television spin-off were on hold indefinitely, following the film's overall box office performance. According to Skydance COO Dana Goldberg, the company was pressing forward with development, but would further analyze market research before starting production. In January 2016, the planned ''Terminator 2'' was removed from Paramount's release schedule. In April 2016, Emilia Clarke said that she would not return for any sequels.

Video game

In June 2016, following the cancellation of film sequels and a spin-off television series, a video game titled '' Terminator Genisys: Future War'' was revealed to be in development. The game's storyline would take place immediately following the events of ''Terminator Genisys''. ''Future War'' was released on May 18, 2017.

James Cameron's return

Ultimately, the film rights to the ''Terminator'' franchise reverted to co-creator

, who along with David Ellison, produced a new film, '' Terminator: Dark Fate'', a direct sequel to ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day''. It was intended to be the first in a new trilogy of planned ''Terminator'' films, though they were later cancelled due to the film's poor box office returns. ''Terminator: Dark Fate'' was directed by Tim Miller, and featured the return of Schwarzenegger and Hamilton. It was released on November 1, 2019 to better critical reception than previous entries, though it was nevertheless a commercial failure.

Notes

References

External links

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