Just a little more than six months after the release of Terminator Salvation, its production company auctioned off the rights of the Terminator film franchise [read about this report here], it was a deal that tests Hollywood intellectual property valuations at a time when film industry profits are under pressure from falling DVD sales. After Sony Pictures & Lionsgate bid frantically for the rights, neither movie studio came out the winner. Halcyon accepted a $29.5 million bid from a Santa Barbara-based hedge fund Pacificor, the debtholder which pushed the company into bankruptcy.Of course, this is subject to the approval by the bankruptcy court. As stated in reports, “Sony and Lionsgate dropped out at just under $29.5 million when it became clear that Pacificor was willing to pay almost any amount of money for Terminator.” As part of the deal, Halcyon will keep the revenue streams from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator Salvation, and will receive $5 million for every Terminator movie produced in the future. [source: LA Times]
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gale Anne Hurd, who produced the first three Terminator movies, discussed the madness surrounding the rights to the series and said, if everything worked out, she’d love to do another one: "It’s very sad. You feel like you gave birth to something and it’s been adopted and those adoptions haven’t worked out. Of course I’d be interested in doing another one. I’d love it."
Now it looks like Justin Lin, director of the upcoming Fast Five is interested in reviving the Terminator franchise. Lin says he has a take on Terminator he would like to see and that he’s spoken with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Lin says:
"I think one of the great things is that when I got started, no one would return my calls, and now I get a lot of phone calls, which is good. I have options. Terminator was one of my favorite films growing up. And I feel I have a take that I would love to see, and I’ve talked with Arnold and we’ve talked and we’ll see. Again, I would love to do it, but it has to be the right circumstances. It has to be the right people. And there’s other projects too. But I’m in a position now that I can choose more than I could a year ago, two years ago. So that is something that is potentially in my future, but when I get home I will sit down and look at my options and choose what I want to do."
If you ask me, I personally think that the Terminator franchise has a messy storyline up from the very first movie. Stories involving time-travel & fate alteration is a very complex storyline material to work around with, ESPECIALLY if its a film series; everything has to weave together flawlessly. Once it shows some sign of inconsistency, it could easily dissolve from both its fandom and from the box office profits. When box-office fails, the last thing that can save the film is its hardcore followers that 'get it'. I actually loved "Terminator Salvation" but there's no denying that it was still a mess. Let's just hope that somebody will finally make a Terminator movie that will give this saga some order.
Check out this funny short video about a Terminator begging in the streets
