BEIJING — T2 will be back — in 3-D.
Twenty-five years after “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” hit cinemas, a three-dimensional version is coming to the big screen in 2016.
Writer-director James Cameron said Wednesday he was working with Beijing-based DMG Entertainment and rights holder Studiocanal to create the re-release of the sci-fi classic. The new version will debut in mainland China, where 3-D re-releases of films including Cameron’s “Titanic” and “Jurassic Park” have proven popular.
“Next year marks the 25th anniversary of ‘Terminator 2’ and that seemed like the perfect time to bring it back but this time in an all-new 3-D version,” Cameron said in a statement announcing the deal.
The “Terminator” series and Arnold Schwarzenegger are well-known among Chinese film fans, though “T2” never had a theatrical release in the country; in 1991, Western films were still not being imported into the Communist-run nation.
Last summer’s “Terminator Genisys,” directed by Alan Taylor, performed better in China than in the United States. The Paramount Pictures/Skydance production earned about $90 million stateside but more than $112 million in China; in total, the film grossed about $440 million worldwide.
“Terminator 2” was a much bigger hit, commercially and critically. At the time, it was one of the most expensive movies ever made, with a budget of approximately $100 million.
“T2” won four Oscars, including best visual effects, and grossed about $520 million worldwide — the equivalent of $904 million today after adjusting for inflation.
“‘T2’ blew me away when I first saw it. For a whole new generation of fans, it is truly a chance to see the movie that really set the bar for action and effects that all the movies today are trying to top, in a completely new way – in the theater and in 3-D,” said Dan Mintz, chief executive of DMG.
The 3-D version of Cameron’s “Titanic,” released in 2012, earned $285 million outside North America – with about $145 million from China alone, more than double what the rerelease earned in the United States.
