With "Terminator Genisys" scheduled to debut in theaters this July 1, Skydance Productions is reportedly looking to expand the franchise beyond the planned trilogy of films and is also planning to develop a new TV series. According to an interview with Collider, the studios are moving forward with this plan.
Skydance CEO David Ellison and CCO Dana Goldberg confirmed that the series is in the pipeline and stated that it is going to be a part of a "larger universe," hinting that this will be a shared cinematic universe that ties in the with the new films.
"It's something that we're developing as we speak," explained Ellison. "To speak kind of larger to that, one of the things we would love to do at Skydance — it's a very lofty goal — is to build worlds across multiple mediums."
Ellison continued to explain that the series will eventually cross paths with the events of the films and that the new, revitalized "Terminator" franchise will expand beyond movies and TV series to video games, comic books, and more. Each platform can give fans a complete "Terminator" experience but those who dive into all of them will feel the connective tissue that binds them all together.
Currently, studios are trying to build their own shared cinematic universe following the success Marvel has had with their "Avengers" property.
Ellison and Goldberg also stated that if the series would enter production any time soon, then they would aim for 13 episodes per season or less —10 is the ideal number — instead of going for a full 22-episode season. The interview cites shows like "Game of Thrones" and "Breaking Bad" as primary examples of series with fewer episodes but a grander scale compared to network television series which often have 16 or more episodes.
According to the report, all of this still hinges on the success of "Terminator Genisys." The film should be a financial success to warrant a sequel and it should garner average to respectable reviews to prove it can stand up on its own to build a franchise around it, which would include a tie-in television series.
