Terminator Rights Likely to Be Sold

[Frontier]

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/15264/-terminator-rights-on-the-block-

Not much of a shocker, here. Halycon bought the rights for $25 million in 2007. Now they're likely to go back on the market, either partially or wholly.

I wonder if Jim Cameron might want to buy them back now? He can certainly afford it. He could well have afforded it in 2007 as well. But many creators are territorial and I wouldn't be too surprised if he at least entertained the idea of once more owning the franchise that launched him. At which point the property would likely go on the shelf for many moons.

Then again, after what's been done to it in his absence, he might as well not give a hoot. Though I dare say, if anyone can save Terminator and fix it back up, it's him.

 

[JacksonArcher]

I guess that sort of confirms the financial disappointment of Terminator Salvation. I wonder how this affects McG's planned trilogy? Wasn't a second film greenlit at the beginnning of this year?

Too bad. I'm one of the few that enjoyed Terminator Salvation.

 

[nx1701g]

This, I'm sorry to say, isn't anything new and has been in limbo since Salvation did poorly in the United States. How it started was that Sony and Warner Brothers were essentially fighting for the series up until Salvation did poorly. Since it didn't gain nearly the numbers that either company expected both pulled out of the bidding frenzy that had been anticipated (they had pretty much assumed that T:S would be the second movie of the summer behind Transformers).

When that happened the investors filed a lawsuit for the dividends that they were promised for investing in the film and for what they'd get if Sony and WB's went into the bidding war that was anticipated. One of the things that they demanded in their settlement were the rights to the franchise so that they could be sold to make up the difference between what they will receive in the settlement and the amount they were promised.

They have a big name supporter: Arnold Schwarzenegger - I know I probably messed up the last name - has admitted he is trying to acquire the rights to the franchise so that he can (in his words) put it "back on track" - remember though that he was involved in the production of Terminator 3 and added a lot of the elements to the script that weren't in the original.

Now here's the strange thing: Terminator 5 is still greenlit.

 

[The Evil Dead]

I'd be willing to go as high as $4 but I might low ball them $1.50, they might take it out of desperation.

 

[nx1701g]

The estimates were $25 Million last time I checked (That was what Arnold said he would offer).

 

[LutherSloan]

I don't think Cameron would buy it, honestly. I would also doubt that he would want to make another film set post-Judgment Day.

I doubt that this bodes well for a sequel to T:S. It should have been much better, but it had various issues. I still think it's much better than T3, however. My favorite aspect of the film were all of the new machines they came up with or showed for the first time (the T-600 had been mentioned in previous movies but never shown). The effects were also strong. But the biggest problem was, Marcus Wright became a more interesting character than John Connor, which misses the point of the whole Terminator franchise, IMO.

I probably wouldn't want a McG sequel to T:S, not if they go with the idea of sending machines back to our time to wreak havoc. That's a cop out to me.

 

[nx1701g]

But the biggest problem was, Marcus Wright became a more interesting character than John Connor, which misses the point of the whole Terminator franchise, IMO.

Thank Bale...

I probably wouldn't want a McG sequel to T:S, not if they go with the idea of sending machines back to our time to wreak havoc. That's a cop out to me.

I agree with you, but that wasn't the only part of it. To be honest my rankings put TSCC in the third slot for my favorites then Salvation then T3. McG was planning to unite the two storylines into one with T5.

 

[LutherSloan]

I honestly felt like Wright received far more screen time in T:S than John Connor.

 

[Captain Craig]

Too bad. I'm one of the few that enjoyed Terminator Salvation.

I'm in the boat with you. I liked it, saw it twice at the theater. Having said that I did not like the ideas that McG wanted for a T5. Going back and resetting Judgement Day to coincide with the inferior TV show.

Going the Future War route was the right move and it'd be nice to see a T5 stay there and build upon Salvation. Sadly, what is likely to happen is the new owner will want to reboot the movie franchise like so many have had happen to them. I'm not gung-ho about reinvesting 15 yrs or so to get back to the Future War and tell the story through to the point Kyle goes back, like we could have if T5 stays in the current film continuity.

Worse is I'm not excited about telling the same story over and over like was done in T1-T3(with the ending being the game changer).

 

[nx1701g]

I honestly felt like Wright received far more screen time in T:S than John Connor.

He did.

In the first shooting script for Salvation the film focused on Marcus Wright and he was the star not only of this film but the new trilogy of films. When they created the character and idea John Connor was going to only be a bit player in the films with only a few minutes of screen time at the end of Salvation. When Bale read the script he sent it back to them and said he was interested but with one requirement. He hated the idea of the Marcus character and refused to play it. Since they felt that he would be the essential agreement they contacted him and asked him which role he'd be willing to play. His answer was: John Connor only. So they rewrote the script and made Connor one of the leads in the story and Marcus was the co lead. When Cameron recommended Worthington to be a terminator the rest was history.

 

[dragunzng]

I have to admit I really enjoyed Salvation, I rate it as the third best terminator movie (ahead of what I thought was an awful T3), and the second most entertaining after T2. It had its problems, but I thought Worthington made a worthy addition as a Terminator.

Don't hurt me!

 

[Lapis Exilis]

The only point to creating more Terminator material would be to go back to the original and write some decent sequels that weren't just formulaic rehashs of "big scary android chases the Connor family around". Really - haven't we seen plenty of that by now?

 

[blockaderunner]

I guess that sort of confirms the financial disappointment of Terminator Salvation. I wonder how this affects McG's planned trilogy? Wasn't a second film greenlit at the beginnning of this year?

Too bad. I'm one of the few that enjoyed Terminator Salvation.

Before the movie was released, McG was talking about a Future War trilogy. Once the returns (or lack of) started coming in, he changed his story. To save face, and probably studio money, he said the next movie would take place in the present with the same plotline of just about every other Terminator movie before Salvation.

 

[Aragorn]

The only point to creating more Terminator material would be to go back to the original and write some decent sequels that weren't just formulaic rehashs of "big scary android chases the Connor family around". Really - haven't we seen plenty of that by now?

How about the scary Connor family chases an android around?

 

[Lapis Exilis]

The only point to creating more Terminator material would be to go back to the original and write some decent sequels that weren't just formulaic rehashs of "big scary android chases the Connor family around". Really - haven't we seen plenty of that by now?

How about the scary Connor family chases an android around?

At least that would be something new and different!

 

[ManOnTheWave]

I hope FOX takes it and we end up with an utterly plotless shitfest: Aliens vs Predator vs Terminator vs Family Guy.

 

[Admiral_Young]

So this is the umpteenth time that the rights will be sold off to a new holder? The price Halcyon paid last time was indeed 25 million dollars. Terminator 5 is still green lit as NX stated corrected. I was one of the few who enjoyed Terminator Salvation. I would have preferred a story without Marcus in it, I understand why he was included in it, but meh. As John mentions in the movie, this isn't the war his mother told him about! That's because the premise has been altered through time travel so many times that it can't be the Future War all of us have been waiting to see. The idea that McG has to reset Judgement Day is just wrong...and if it happens the way he stated I'll avoid seeing it whenever it finally comes out. As for the poster who quirped that TSCC was an inferior product...I would beg to differ that it was suprerior to the two movies we got.

 

[LutherSloan]

Yes, I'm also afraid that we're looking at a reboot, since the Future War idea 'failed'. I think it would have succeeded if the script had been better.

 

[Sephiroth]

Personaly, if I had the money (I actualy MIGHT if things come down right) I'd buy the rights and make the Infiltrator novels into T3 T4 & T5 (screw ROTM, and Salvation was an alternate universe, I like it better as the way it's planned out as a series of novels)

 

[nx1701g]

Personaly, if I had the money (I actualy MIGHT if things come down right) I'd buy the rights and make the Infiltrator novels into T3 T4 & T5 (screw ROTM, and Salvation was an alternate universe, I like it better as the way it's planned out as a series of novels)

You wouldn't be able to make the infiltrator novels into a film unfortunately. Their rights were not negotiated normally and SM Sterling still retains the rights to the events of those novels. He has already said he would never approve them to be made into films.