Terminator Genisys is a 2015 American science fiction action film serving as a homage reboot and the fifth installment in the Terminator franchise. Directed by Alan Taylor from a screenplay by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier, the film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising his role as the Terminator, alongside Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, J. K. Simmons, and Lee Byung-hun. Despite Schwarzenegger's involvement and the mirroring of certain events from the previous films, the film is a standalone entry with no canonical connection to the prior installments; it is described as a "reimagining" of The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).
The plot follows Kyle Reese (Courtney), a soldier from a post-apocalyptic 2029 where humanity wages war against Skynet. Sent back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke), Reese discovers the timeline has been altered—Sarah was raised by a reprogrammed Terminator (Schwarzenegger) sent to guard her. The film explores the consequences of Skynet's interference with temporal events.
Development began after the Halcyon Company, then-owners of the franchise, filed for bankruptcy following the underperformance of Terminator Salvation (2009). Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures acquired the rights in 2011, partnering with her brother David's Skydance Productions. However, Annapurna dropped their involvement, although Megan still retained executive producer credit. The producers consulted original creator James Cameron and drew inspiration from the first two Terminator films. Principal photography occurred mainly in New Orleans and San Francisco, with visual effects handled by six companies and practical effects by Legacy Effects.
Premiering at the Dolby Theatre on June 28, 2015, and released widely on July 1 by Paramount Pictures, the film was largely panned by critics for its plot, though some praised the action sequences and Schwarzenegger's return. It grossed $440.6 million worldwide, making it the franchise's second-highest-grossing entry after Terminator 2, yet it underperformed relative to expectations. Planned sequels and a TV spin-off were cancelled, though a video game, Terminator Genisys: Future War, was released in 2017. The franchise continued with Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), a direct sequel to Terminator 2.
Plot
In 2029, Human Resistance leader John Connor launches a final offensive against Skynet, an artificial general intelligence system seeking to eliminate the human race. Before the Resistance can triumph, Skynet activates time displacement equipment and sends a T-800/Model 101 Terminator back to 1984, to kill John's mother Sarah. John's right-hand man, Kyle Reese, volunteers to travel back in time to protect her. While floating in the equipment's magnetic field, Kyle sees John being attacked by another Resistance soldier. This creates a temporal paradox that alters the timeline and causes Kyle to experience childhood memories from a parallel version of himself.
However, when it arrives in 1984 Los Angeles, Skynet's T-800 is attacked by "Pops", a reprogrammed T-800. The two fight until Sarah arrives and shoots the Skynet controlled T-800, which crashes its system. An unknown party had sent Pops to 1973 to protect Sarah when she was nine years old after her parents were killed by a T-1000 sent by Skynet. After arriving in 1984, Kyle steals a homeless man's pants, but is soon intercepted by the T-1000. Eventually, the T-1000 corners him, but Sarah and Pops rescue him. The three run to the sewers, pursued by the T-1000, but Sarah and Pops melt it with traps.
Sarah and Pops have constructed makeshift time displacement equipment like Skynet's and Sarah plans to stop Skynet by traveling to 1997, the year it becomes self-aware. However, realizing that the past has been altered, Kyle is convinced that the future has also changed. He recalls a warning he received in his childhood vision, convincing Sarah that they instead must travel to 2017 to stop Skynet. After fighting the T-1000, Pops has sustained exterior damage that prevents him from time traveling. He stays in 1984 and plans to meet up with Kyle and Sarah in the future, preparing for their arrival in the meantime.
In 2017, Kyle and Sarah materialize in the middle of a busy San Francisco highway and are apprehended by city police. While being treated for injuries, Sarah and Kyle learn that Skynet is called "Genisys"—a soon-to-be-unveiled global operating system which is embraced by the public. John then appears and rescues Sarah and Kyle. Pops arrives and shoots John, revealing that John is now an advanced Terminator. The resistance soldier who attacked John is revealed to have been Skynet in physical disguise as a T-5000 Terminator named Alex. While Kyle was traveling back in time, Alex attacked John and infected him with nanomachines that converted him into a cyborg on a cellular level. John, brainwashed to ensure Skynet's creation, traveled back in time to assist Cyberdyne Systems with the development of Genisys, hence securing Skynet and its machines' rise. Pops fights John before trapping him long enough for them to escape.
A day before Skynet's worldwide attack, Sarah, Kyle, and Pops retreat to a safe house and make final preparations to destroy Cyberdyne's Genisys mainframe. They head toward Cyberdyne's headquarters with John in close pursuit. During an airborne chase, Pops dives-bombs into John's helicopter and causes it to crash. John survives the crash and enters the Cyberdyne complex, where it advances the countdown from 13 hours to 15 minutes due to Skynet's aging. Kyle, Sarah, and Pops plant bombs at key points in the facility while holding off John.
In a final battle, Pops traps John in the magnetic field of a prototype time machine. Both are destroyed, but just before the explosion, Pops' remains are flung out of the apparatus into a nearby vat of experimental mimetic polyalloy. Kyle and Sarah reach a bunker beneath the facility and the explosion sets off the bombs, preventing Genisys from coming online. Pops appears, upgraded with mimetic polyalloy components like that of the T-1000, and helps them escape from the debris.
The trio travels to Kyle's childhood home, where Kyle tells his younger self about Genisys and instructs him to repeat the warning to himself, securing the trio's arrival from 1984. Sarah, Kyle, and Pops drive off into the countryside.
A mid-credits scene reveals that the system core of Genisys, located in a protected subterranean chamber, has survived the explosion.
Cast
Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator / Pops: A reprogrammed T-800 Terminator who is Sarah's protector and mentor. Brett Azar stood in on-set as the body double for the T-800 Terminator (of the first film who time-traveled to 1984) and the Young Guardian in 1973. Jason Clarke as John Connor: The leader of the Resistance and Kyle's mentor, who was attacked by T-5000 and turned into a T-3000 Terminator composed of machine phase matter. Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor: Pops' protégée and destined to be John's mother. Willa Taylor as Young Sarah Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese: A Resistance soldier and John's protégé destined to be John's father. Bryant Prince as Young Kyle J. K. Simmons as O'Brien: An alcoholic police detective from the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) and former Marine who investigates time travelers, particularly Terminators. Wayne Bastrup as Young O'Brien: An LAPD beat cop in 1984 who witnesses the encounter between Kyle and the T-800. Dayo Okeniyi as Danny Dyson: Miles's son and Cyberdyne Systems' president; he co-creates the operating system Genisys with John Connor. Matt Smith (credited as Matthew Smith) as Alex: An advanced T-5000 Terminator who embodies Skynet. Alex's appearance is also used by Skynet as a holographic avatar in 2017. Ian Etheridge as Skynet, age 10. Nolan Gross as Skynet, age 12–14. Seth Meriwether as Skynet, age 18. Courtney B. Vance as Miles Dyson: Cyberdyne Systems' CEO who funds the Genisys project. Michael Gladis as Lieutenant Matias: A SFPD police lieutenant and O'Brien's superior. Sandrine Holt as Detective Cheung: A SFPD police detective. Byung-Hun Lee as Cop / T-1000: A shapeshifting prototypical Terminator composed of mimetic polyalloy.
Production Development Although Terminator Salvation was intended to begin a new trilogy, the production of a fifth film was put on hold because of legal issues with franchise owner the Halcyon Company (which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2009). To avoid bankruptcy, Halcyon later decided to sell the rights to the franchise and valued the property at $70 million. On February 8, 2010, the franchise was auctioned for $29.5 million to Pacificor, a hedge fund which was the largest creditor in Halcyon's bankruptcy proceedings. The deal erased Halcyon's debts to Pacificor and guaranteed Halcyon $5 million for each additional Terminator sequel produced, to pay other outstanding debts. Pacificor sold the franchise again in May 2010.
In August of that year, Hannover House announced plans to develop a 3D animated film titled Terminator 3000. Pacificor responded with a cease and desist letter, declining a $20–30 million offer from Hannover for the rights to produce the film. In February 2011, Universal Studios considered investing in a fifth Terminator film with Arnold Schwarzenegger returning to the title role, Fast & Furious director Justin Lin at the helm and Chris Morgan as the screenwriter. In late April 2011, a proposed Terminator package, dropping Morgan and adding producer Robert W. Cort, was presented to Universal Studios, Sony, Lionsgate and CBS Films. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) had a 30-day right of first refusal to finance and distribute Terminator 5 since 2006.
It was eventually picked up by Megan Ellison and her production company, Annapurna Pictures, in May 2011 after they purchased at auction the rights to make at least two more Terminator films. The deal was finalized on December 4, 2012; the final price was reportedly less than the auction pledge because new copyright laws had raised concerns that the rights would revert to Terminator creator James Cameron in 2019. Ellison's brother David and others from his Skydance Productions agreed to co-produce the film. After acquiring the rights to the franchise, Megan Ellison asked Cameron for input on the new film. Cameron met several times with David Ellison, where they discussed Schwarzenegger's role and how to remain true to the T-800 character. Director Justin Lin had to leave the project because of his involvement in Fast & Furious 6. Two screenwriters, Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier, were commissioned to write the screenplay in January 2013. Kalogridis and Lussier turned down the project three times, but Cameron persuaded them to accept it.
Paramount Pictures (which has a financing and distribution deal with Skydance) was confirmed as the distributor in June 2013, when they and the producers announced a release date of June 26, 2015. Rian Johnson, Denis Villeneuve and Ang Lee were approached to take over direction from Lin, but Thor: The Dark World director Alan Taylor was selected in September 2013. Storyboard artist Jane Wu, Taylor's girlfriend, urged him to turn down the offer after reading the script, insisting that he should direct something more personal and that he loved, but Taylor was persuaded and tempted with the prospect of working with Schwarzenegger, who impressed him during their meetings, and with the chance to build on the legacy of Cameron's franchise. Taylor felt that he should direct the film due to his love for the first two Terminator films, believing that he could "fix" the script and make the film work. In January 2014, Megan Ellison announced that Annapurna was no longer financing the film; Skydance and Paramount would provide funding while Ellison would be credited as an executive producer.
Casting