There's no kind way to describe Terminator Genisys' debut at the US box-office. The movie totally bombed with a $27 million opening weekend, a figure even lower than 2009's disappointing Terminator Salvation. With a weak $89 million banked to date, many believed Genisys would be the last we'd see of the storied series, but a new development may cause Paramount to override that fatalistic conclusion. The sequel just opened huge in China. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGSxss7gWak Genisys managed an impressive $27 million on its opening day in China, placing it just behind Furious 7, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Transformers: Age of Extinction as the biggest bow for an American release in the country's history. This follows the lifting of China's annual summer blackout, which sees American releases blocked in the country. As a result, there was probably some hunger for a bit of international spectacle, but man, did it have to be Terminator Genisys? Cruelty is never the aim of the game, but I'm genuinely at a loss to describe the film in any positive light. It's a clunky, dismally acted and structurally shoddy blockbuster. For me, the worst major tentpole of the summer (I include Fantastic Four in that equation). Genisys confused convoluted plotting for dynamism, leading to the stalest reboot in the series so far. Still, it must be connecting with the Chinese audience on some level, because that's a vast number. Budgeted at $155 million and with $353 million in worldwide grosses so far, the film still has a little way to go before it becomes a categorical hit; but with international figures of this magnitude, a sixth installment just took a massive step toward becoming reality. Yay?
