There have been varying stories about how involved James Cameron was with the upcoming “Terminator: Dark Fate.” Some worried that he was a producer in name only, much like how he was “involved” in other ‘Terminator’ sequels. Others thought maybe he had been involved much like ‘Alita,’ where he was on set, writing the script, and generally giving notes along the way. Well, in a new interview with CinemaBlend, it appears that his involvement was much more than previous ‘Terminator’ sequels, but not as hands-on as you might think.
Cameron apparently kept to himself quite a bit once he, director Tim Miller, and the other writers figured out the story they wanted to tell. Then he took a step back until it was time to see the first rough cut of the film earlier this year. He described that cut as “pretty rough” and “pretty long.” So from there, the filmmaker describes how he impacted the editing of the film.
“It wasn’t a slam-dunk at the time,” said Cameron. “I felt there were a lot of pathways that were taken that were unnecessary. I’m an editor myself, so I gave notes that were both broad, and very specific.”
He added, “I continued in that process up to about two and a half months ago when we locked picture. I would say my… I never went to the set. I’ve yet to physically meet the new cast because I never went to the set. But I was very involved in the writing and I was very involved in the cutting of the film. And to me, the cutting is really an extension of the writing.”
As for how difficult the editing was, Cameron didn’t mince words. He was asked about how many disagreements there were during the post-production of ‘Dark Fate,’ and despite their chummy attitude now that the dust has settled, it appears that there were some hard-fought battles between the ‘Terminator’ director and the ‘Dark Fate’ crew.
“I would say many,” said Cameron. “And the blood is still being scrubbed off the walls from those creative battles. This is a film that was forged in fire.”
No matter what you might think about the finished film, “Terminator: Dark Fate” is clearly the most involved Cameron has been in the franchise since his “T2: Judgment Day.” So, if you don’t enjoy ‘Dark Fate,’ then perhaps that means that you just aren’t going to be happy with the franchise moving forward. Because if the editing of the film is any indication, this new sequel took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears bringing it to the big screen.
“Terminator: Dark Fate” arrives in theaters tomorrow.
