Terminator 6 director responds to box office failure: I don't want to work with Cameron again

Terminator: Dark Fate was released in China and North America in early November. It has grossed nearly $59 million in North America and $235 million worldwide, but the production cost was as high as $185 million. The film suffered a serious box office failure, and director Tim Miller responded to it, saying that he did not want to work with James Cameron again after this incident.

Terminator: Dark Fate Director Tim Miller

"You could write a book about why Terminator: Dark Fate didn't work. I'm still not sure about it. I'm still refining it. But I'm very proud of this movie," Miller said on the KCRW radio show. He believes the film's failure was due to "bad luck, bad timing, or hubris - I thought I had control over what the fans liked, but maybe I didn't."

Miller said that the reason why people don't like the movie is something he can't control: "It seems that the things they hate the most are beyond my control: you don't like "Terminator: Genisys" or you feel betrayed by "Terminator 4". I can't control it. I can't do anything about it."

As for the creative disputes behind the film, he had many frictions with producer James Cameron (who is also one of the screenwriters) and Skydance Pictures' David Ellison. Miller once said that "the blood from that creative battle is still on the walls." He said that there were a lot of battles behind this movie, but that's the creative process of making a movie.

This time Miller talked in detail about his biggest dissatisfaction: as a director, he has no control. "Cameron is the producer, Ellison is the producer, strictly speaking they have the final cut right, they have the highest power, but the director's column is still written with my name. Even if I will definitely lose this fight, I still feel responsible for it, because fighting for the movie is what a director should do."

Finally, after Miller showed Cameron his director's cut, "There were a lot of things in the movie that Jim thought were important that I cut out, and there were a lot of scenes that we had disagreements about during the filming. But after the screening, when the lights came on, Jim said, 'We finally have a movie (meaning he was satisfied)."

The two disagreed on many of the lines that Miller thought were "poetic and beautiful," such as Dani's one line. Cameron had no love for it, "I would fight for that line because it's important to me. But does the audience really care? Probably not. In this big battle, these are insignificant."

In the early stages of the film's development, Miller and Cameron had different views on "what happened in the future" in the plot. Miller believed that humans should lose and Legion (the new version of Skynet) won, while Cameron believed that humans should win: "I said: Legion is very powerful, and the only way to defeat them is to go back in time and strangle it in its cradle. Jim said: What's the point if humans lose? I said: What's the point if humans win and all they have to do is keep winning?"

Miller said he liked the setting of the Last Stand, and that the character of Dani was not just "the woman who picked up a gun to fight", but a more inspiring leader, etc., but these were not Cameron's cup of tea.

Miller, who directed the first Deadpool movie, said that not having final control over the film as a director was also the reason why he would not direct Deadpool 2. He had creative differences with the series star Ryan Reynolds. Miller said: "It's obvious that Ryan wants to control the series. You can successfully be a director in that way, but I can't."

In Terminator: Dark Fate, Miller was in this position again. After this incident, he didn't want to work with Cameron again. When asked if he wanted to work with him again, Miller said: "No, but it's not because I was traumatized by this movie, it's mainly because I don't want to be in a position where I don't have control and can't do what I think is right. "

He also said that such an idea might be too naive: "This may be an illusion. After all, everyone has to kneel, unless I am a billionaire who only needs to spend money to buy things, but I am not. Everyone has to 'kneel' more or less, but it will feel better if you don't kneel too much."

Stills from Terminator: Dark Fate

However, he said that his personal relationship with Cameron is still good. Cameron sent him an email last week, saying: "I know we have a little conflict. I put it down to the difference of opinion between two people with strong positions in the creative process, and I think it makes the movie better. I will go back to Los Angeles in December, so let's go out for a drink then."

Talking about the recent losses of Skydance Pictures due to "Gemini Man" and "Dark Fate", Miller said that "Dark Fate" caused losses to others, which made him feel bad, so much so that when Miller had dinner with Ellison this week, he took the initiative to pay, "I treated a billionaire to dinner." He thinks Ellison is a good person and is very supportive of him at work.

Miller is not worried that his future career as a director will be affected. After all, he is a special effects worker and has experience in shooting action scenes. When he had dinner with Ellison, he was asked, "What will we work on together next time?" Thinking about it now, Miller is still very moved.