The long-running “Terminator” franchise is headed to Netflix as a new animated series.
The streamer made the announcement as part of their Geeked Week promotional cycle. Under the working title, “Terminator: The Anime Series,” the show will follow brand new characters and is created by Japanese animation studio Production IG (“Ghost in the Shell”).
Here’s the official synopsis: “2022: A future war has raged for decades between the few human survivors and an endless army of machines. 1997: The AI known as Skynet gained self-awareness and began its war against humanity. Caught between the future and this past is a soldier sent back in time to change the fate of humanity. She arrives in 1997 to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee who works to launch a new AI system designed to compete with Skynet’s impending attack on humanity. As Malcolm navigates the moral complexities of his creation, he is hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future which forever alters the fate of his three children.”
Matt Tomlin is the showrunner, executive producer and writer. Skydance also executive produces, and Masashi Kudo direct. The “Terminator” franchise currently spans six films, a television series, novels, comics and video games, but this marks the first animated project.
“Anyone who knows my writing knows I believe in taking big swings and going for the heart. I’m honored that Netflix and Skydance have given me the opportunity to approach ‘Terminator’ in a way that breaks conventions, subverts expectations and has real guts,” Tomlin said.
The series began with James Cameron’s low-budget 1984 film “The Terminator,” which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cyborg sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), a woman set to give birth to a leader who will save the human race from a robot uprising.
While the first two films in the franchise —the 1984 first chapter and the Cameron-helmed blockbuster “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” — are largely considered cornerstones of the science fiction genre, the following films faced mixed reception by critics and audiences.
The most recent, 2019’s “Terminator: Dark Fate,” was among the most warmly met, likely due to Linda Hamilton’s return in a starring role. Unfortunately, it was a box office bomb.
In recent interviews, Cameron has lamented the amount of violence in his “Terminator” movies.
“I look back on some films that I’ve made, and I don’t know if I would want to make that film now,” he said during a discussion with Esquire Middle East. “I don’t know if I would want to fetishize the gun, like I did on a couple of ‘Terminator’ movies 30+ years ago, in our current world. What’s happening with guns in our society turns my stomach.”
