12 Upcoming Movies That Could Change Things Forever

11. Terminator: Genisys Finally Kills The Franchise For Good

Ever since the phenomenal success of 1991's Terminator 2 (scoring a huge $519 million at the box office), the franchise has been on the critical and financial decline. Terminator 3 reaped a decent enough $433 million (on a $200 million budget), and despite excellent trailers and a grizzled Christian Bale in the lead. Terminator Salvation made only $371 million (again, against a $200 million budget). Could it simply be that casual cinemagoers just aren't that interested in the Terminator series anymore? Consider that, apart from a returning Arnold Schwarzenegger, the cast for the horribly-titled Terminator: Genisys isn't exactly brimming with A-listers, which combined with potential audience fatigue over the franchise could result in the fifth film pulling in even less than the previous film (short of a marketing campaign which manages to top Salvation's, which is unlikely). Furthermore, even with Arnie returning to the iconic role that made him famous, his standalone movies outside of team-ups like Escape Plan and The Expendables rarely make much money, so it's possible that this may now also include the Terminator franchise. If the movie makes less than Salvation's $371 million (given that the currently undisclosed budget is likely around the $200 million mark), it's difficult to see why any studio would bother pressing on with the two planned sequels. The law of diminished returns is very real, and it's easy to see why this series has suffered through it to date. It'd be a shame to see the series die flat on its face, but then, only the first two movies ever really made themselves feel necessary in the first place.