Tim Miller Explains That He Won't Work with James Cameron Again Because of Lack of Control
I was actually a little surprised that Terminator: Dark Fate didn’t do better at the box office. But, the audience and fans have spoken, and this franchise is pretty much dead. The movie only made $29 million on its opening weekend.
During a recent interview with THR, director Tim Miller addressed the film’s disappointing box office performance, saying:
"I'm sure we could write a book on why it didn't work. I'm still not sure and I'm processing, but I'm very proud of the movie."
He went on to talk about the things that he wasn’t really able to control in regards to how audiences feel about the franchise:
"The things they seemed to hate the most about the movie, were things I can't control. I can't control you didn't like Genysis or you felt betrayed by Terminator 4. I can't help that."
Miller then confirmed that he had frequent disagreements with James Cameron over everything from certain lines to the way Legion should be portrayed:
"[I suggested] Legion is so powerful, the only way to beat it is going back in time and strangle it in the crib. Jim says, 'What's dramatic about the humans losing?' And I say, 'Well, What's dramatic about the humans winning and they just need to keep on winning?' I like a last stand. It's not his thing.
"Even if I'm going to lose the fight, I still feel this obligation to fight because that is what the director is supposed to do. Fight for the movie. The lights come up, and there was a lot of stuff that I had cut that Jim thought was important and scenes we'd shot that we'd had disagreements on. But the lights come up and Jim says 'we've got a movie.'"
Miller and Cameron are still on good terms, but Miller says that he would never want to work with him again due to his lack of control with the property:
"I can say no, but it has nothing to do with whatever trauma I have from the experience. It's more that I just don't want to be in a situation again where I don't have the control to do what I think is right."
Miller left Deadpool 2 over the same reason. Ryan Reynolds wanted full control of that as well. The thing is, these film franchises don’t belong to Miller. He’s not the selling point of the films. Cameron and Reynolds are. Miller doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who likes to collaborate with people who have more control than he does.
Whatever behind-the-scenes issues there were with Dark Fate, they definitely had an impact on why the film didn’t resonate with audiences. What are your thoughts on Miller’s comments? Do you think he should have had the main control of the film?
It seems to me like he’s burning bridges in Hollywood.