Tag Archives: terminator

Producer Megan Ellison triumphs over Lionsgate for the rights to TERMINATOR

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The lovely Kate Erbland mentioned this in her Cannes acquisition roundup earlier but, seeing how this is some of the biggest news to come out of France since someone saw someone else's underpants after they also saw London, here is the expanded version.

Producer Megan Ellison (TRUE GRIT, KILL BIN LADEN) and her Annapurna Films company beat out Lionsgate in a bid for the rights to make at least two more TERMINATOR films. It looked as if Lionsgate would be the victor on late Thursday, but Ellison won it out in the final hours. The winning bid was not disclosed, but Deadlineis reporting it could have been as high as 20 million dollars upfront, or around "half of the $29.5 million that Pacificor spent to claim the property in a bankruptcy auction." Ellison had no domestic distributor attached at the time of the bout, so this could turn out to be one hot ticket item in Tinseltown, making her risky offer not so risky after all. Continue reading →

Cannes 2011: Acquisitions heat up; homes found for THE IRON LADY, ANOTHER HAPPY DAY, more

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Let's get this ball rolling - the Cannes Film Festival is in full swing, and the news of buyers snapping up films, scripts, packages, and rights is coming out fast and furious. It's almost too much to process, unless you have a handy daily update from your friendly neighborhood movie site, happy to aggregate all the news for you. That's us, by the way. Today, we get news on a number of deals, from Sundance favorites to the continuation of beloved franchises.

After the break, get the details on all the films recently picked up at Cannes, along with who is releasing them and reported release dates (where applicable). Get your calenders ready, kids. Continue reading →

New TERMINATOR film, Schwarzenegger and all, heads out studio hunting

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Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator

With FAST FIVE set to take theaters by storm this Friday, director Justin Lin has found himself in the middle of what appears to be one hell of a potential purchase for one lucky studio.

Deadline is reporting that a package has been sent out to studios, which would find Lin directing a new TERMINATOR picture, which now has actor Arnold Schwarzenegger attached to star.  Universal, Sony, and Lionsgate have all allegedly proclaimed their interest in the film, which itself is in an interesting position.

For those who may not remember, the rights to the franchise are in the hands of hedge fund company Pacificor, with some of the North American rights also in the hands of Hemdale, which they obtained from James Cameron.  These rights will expire and be placed back with Cameron in 2018, so to say that this franchise is have a few rights issues, is putting it really lightly. Continue reading →

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s return to acting sparks interest in more TERMINATOR films

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Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator

We should have known the Governator would be back in action movies once his term ended. Famous for his Terminator line "I'll be back," how could this have turned out any other way?

With his return to the acting world, there's a renewed interest in the TERMINATOR franchise. Universal Studios is particularly interested in the franchise, which is looking for Jason Lin's next directing project. Jason Lin directed the first three films in THE FAST & THE FURIOUS series, along with the latest FAST FIVE. Continue reading →

Bill Wisher has written treatments for TERMINATOR 5 and 6

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If there is one franchise that has had more activity around it, the Terminator franchise is it.

All starting in November when the franchise rights went up for auction, and with the recent purchase of those rights by the Santa Barbara based hedge fund group, Pacificor, the rights battle has been ended with a deal that now allows Sony and Lionsgate to produce and distribute the next film or films in the franchise. Continue reading →

TERMINATOR rights go to Pacificor

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The TERMINATOR drama continues and there seems to be no end in sight. Just last month it looked like Lionsgate would win the rights to the franchise with their $15 million bid. Then just a few days ago, Sony took the lead. But now Pacificor has come out of nowhere with the winning bid, beating out the combined efforts of Sony and Lionsgate, who had teamed up at the last minute. Continue reading →

Lionsgate will probably get TERMINATOR rights

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After Joss Whedon put out his letter about why the TERMINATOR franchise should be sold to him, fans' imaginations went wild. Not to mention the excitement about the people who brought you TERMINATOR: SALVATION losing their rights. That was about the last time we spoke about who was in the running for the rights. Now we know who will most likely win. Continue reading →

James Cameron gives his two cents on TERMINATOR SALVATION

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JAMES CAMERON ON THE SET OF T1

It's always interesting to hear what directors think of other directors' work. Especially when one of those directors brought us the epic precursor to the other director's work in question. It's just too bad that this doesn't actually happen, as Hollywood seems to be a town of closed lips for the most part. After all, I hear the loose ones sink ships.

That is, unless the director we are talking about is the very non-candid, non-bullshit Jim Cameron. Everyone had their opinions on TERMINATOR SALVATION. Some loved it, some hated it, some thought it was okay. And then there was Michael Bay, who was just plain childish with his thoughts on the film...before he even saw it no less. But what did JC think? What were the thoughts of the man who gave us both THE TERMINATOR and TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY, two of the greatest sci-fi films ever made?

Check out what Mr. Cameron had to say about McG's take on the future and the war against the machines after the jump! Continue reading →

Joss Whedon writes an open letter for the TERMINATOR rights

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Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon, creator of the TV shows "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," "Angel," and "Firefly," has responded quite comically to the news that the Halcyon Holding Group is selling the rights to the TERMINATOR franchise. On his blog, Whedon wrote an open letter to the TERMINATOR owners wherein he offers to buy the franchise for $10,000. Yeah, it is one big joke by Whedon, and it is a pretty funny one.

I love how Whedon leads off the letter with a "Parenthood" joke, and then uses "dealio" later in the same paragraph. That's right, this letter is not only a pretty funny spoof by Whedon, but it also breaks the news that Joss Whedon does, in fact, know the term "dealio."

You can check out the entire letter after the jump. Continue reading →