MOVIE NEWS – Showrunner Mattson Tomlin focuses on the horror genre in Terminator Zero, just like the original Terminator movie.

Terminator Zero showrunner Mattson Tomlin has revealed that the series will resemble the first film in the franchise rather than the action-oriented visuals of Terminator 2: Judgment Day and subsequent sequels. Terminator Zero is a sci-fi anime that will expand the Terminator franchise with a story set right after the events of T2. It also marks the franchise’s return to television fifteen years after the cancellation of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. This time, the series will be broadcast on Netflix in the form of eight episodes. Timothy Olyphant will voice the Terminator.

At the 2024 Anime Expo in Los Angeles (via CNET ), Terminator Zero showrunner Mattson Tomlin said that the series would lean closer to the horror genre, like Terminator, by making him a brutal killing machine.

His series revives the “serial killer” robot horror of James Cameron’s original 1984 film instead of the blockbuster action spectacle of the rest of the franchise. In many ways, the series is a gendered reimagining of the original, as it sees a lone Terminator sent to hunt down a male scientist (Andre Holland) living in Japan, who is protected by a female resistance fighter (Sonoya Mizuno) from the future.

Could a smaller-scale Terminator Zero be just what the franchise needs?

The Terminator franchise is one of the most iconic film series in history. This is mainly due to the power and cultural permanence of The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. At the time of its release, Terminator 2: Judgment Day was the most expensive film ever made. For years, the Terminator franchise has been trying to catch up to the movie of the time by making blockbuster action sequels, but they couldn’t live up to the high bar set by T2, which, unadjusted for inflation, is still the highest-grossing film in the franchise.

Despite positive reviews, the film Terminator: Dark Fate was a financial failure – the audience’s disinterest may have been due to films such as 2009’s Salvation and 2015’s Genisys.

Five years have passed since the last film’s release. The franchise seemed to be put on ice for even longer until it was announced that Terminator Zero was in development. The series was first announced in February 2021.

Terminator Zero’s approach of embracing the horror-movie tone of the first film is a step in the right direction. If the action of Terminator 2: Judgment Day can’t be beaten, then going smaller and returning to the franchise’s roots might be the way to rebuild its reputation. Horror is a cheaper investment than action.

With the anime becoming more popular every year, the series has a chance to be both what Terminator fans have been waiting for all these years and a new entry point into the franchise for an audience that may not have been interested in the franchise until now.

The August 29, 2024, premiere doesn’t just refer to Skynet’s launch date. It comes exactly 40 years after The Terminator was released. Therefore, it is especially striking that the series celebrates its fortieth anniversary by embracing the tone of the first film.

Source: CNET