New Terminator TV Series In The Works, Will Tie In With New Reboot Trilogy

The machines are returning to the small screen.

By Rudie Obias | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

terminator tv
With Marvel bringing Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to television and Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist to Netflix, bringing a piece of the big screen to the small screen is an emerging trend in Hollywood. While TV and movies don’t operate in the same way, it seems like on its surface, it would be good to continue a story in another medium while building a new and larger audience. The latest big screen property to find its way to your television set is the new Terminator film series.

According to Deadline, Skydance Productions and Annapurna Pictures is looking to bring Terminator back to TV. Skydance and Annapurna are the production companies behind the new Terminator 5 reboot series and sources say that the new TV show will directly tie into the new reboot trilogy.

Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller (X-Men: First Class, Thor) will write and produce the new TV series, while Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier will executive produce. Kalogridis and Lussier are the writers behind Terminator 5, so it’s going to be interesting to see how the new Terminator TV series will follow the reboot film, while catering to an audience that might not have seen the new movie.

The TV series will follow a critical moment from the original Terminator movie, released in 1984, and take it in a completely different direction. While the plot details surrounding the Terminator reboot are closely guarded, the TV series narrative will directly intertwine with the new film. It’s unclear if the actors from the new reboot would also be featured in the TV series, but Skydance and Annapurna are certainly raising the stakes, in terms of their involvement with the franchise. At the moment, Paramount Pictures, the studio behind the reboot, will not be involved with the new TV series.

The scale of the Terminator franchise has just gotten bigger, while at the same time, smaller. While the franchise will somewhat resemble what Marvel is doing in TV and movies, Terminator’s characters and storyline seems to be isolated. Of course, there are a lot of factors in launching a successful TV series, namely consistent ratings. What if the new Terminator TV series is a dud and gets canceled after its first season? Will the movie’s storyline be affected by its cancellation? While the success of the new Terminator movies is a foregone conclusion, TV is a different beast that can’t be predicted week after week. Just look at Marvel’s The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’s middling ratings.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Terminator found its way to the small screen. In 2008, FOX aired Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles with Lena Headey as Sarah Connor, Thomas Dekker as John Connor, and Summer Glau as Cameron, a Terminator whom John Connor sent back from 2027 to protect his earlier self. The Sarah Connor Chronicles also featured heavy time travel, as it took place in 2007, but started off in 1999, after the events of T2 and before T3. Also keep in mind that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was canceled after two seasons. It’s also going to be interesting to see how this new TV series will tie in with The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which is considered Terminator canon.

At the moment, it’s unclear if the TV series will be featured on broadcast or cable television (it might turn up as a Netflix Original too). If we can glean any of the Terminator TV series plot details for what we can expect from the new reboot film, there’s a good chance that Terminator 5 might also take place during the events of the original Terminator movie.

Terminator 5 hits theaters everywhere on July 1, 2015, so expect to see the new TV series later in the year for the 2015 fall TV season.