Terminator News

Earlier, we reported that The Halcyon Company will be auctioning off the rights to the Terminator franchise. Well, looks like they got their first bid.

Firefly creator Joss Whedon has plunked down a whopping $10,000 USD. Yep, you read that correctly. Ten thousand.

When asked if he was serious or just being funny, Whedon, best known as the man behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, said this: “What do you mean, funny?! You think $10,000 is funny?!”

“Here’s the thing: It’s not a slam on The Terminator. I love The Terminator. That part’s totally true. I was thinking to myself, ‘Not since they auctioned off frames from The Little Mermaid have I wished I had more money this much. So you know what, never hurts to ask.’ I loved the movies, even the later movies. I loved the mythology. I loved the TV show [The Sarah Connor Chronicles]–like, really loved. Not for pretend. And not just because of [star] Summer [Glau].

“But mostly, it’s just me being a dumb-ass, because that seems to be what I do best — I’m not even very good at that. So, no, I do not think they’re going to call me and say ‘Congratulations! We’ll have that $10,000 now.’ Although, it would be non-exclusive. Other people could make Terminator movies and TV shows too. I’m just putting that out there in case you publish this.

“But I adore the franchise. I literally did learn a huge amount from that [franchise]. [The Terminator] came out when I was in college, and I was like, This is how you construct a story. It’s very important to me. That part was true. The part where I think I’m going to get it, not so true. And certain ideas, like [bidding for] The Lord of the Rings and the Batman franchise, also possibly not true. If they will give them to me for $10,000, I absolutely would write a check. That’s true. They just didn’t say those [properties] were for sale. They said they were on back-order, is what I understand. It’s all ridiculous, but it comes from love.”

If you think his response is ridiculous, check out Whedon's open letter to the Terminator owners, describing what he'd do to the franchise if he had the rights! Here's a quick preview: "Christian Bale’s John Connor will get a throat lozenge. This will also help his Batwork (ten grand for that franchise too, btw.)"

Fantastic. Keep it comin' big spender!

Well, this is an interesting turn of events. Only 2 years after The Halcyon Company's purchase of the sci-fi juggernaut (or so we thought) Terminator franchise, the rights are back on the market.

Halcyon, a then unknown production company spearheaded by Victor Kubicek and Derek Anderson, had bought the rights from C2 Pictures for $25 million to produce Terminator Salvation, the fourth installment of the series. Once the film was done, Halcyon declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

Even with a $380 million worldwide box office tally, the new Terminator couldn't bring Halcyon the salvation they needed. And so, the rights are to be auctioned off this month. Aside from the usual big studio bidders, Twilight Saga producer Summit Entertainment and Bruno producer Media Rights Capital are reportedly interested.

With the Twilight craze in full swing, New Moon about to hit theaters, and Eclipse already in production, it's easy to see how a company like Summit could probably end up snatching the franchise, unless the majors are willing to shell out the cash to make more Terminators.

With Salvation being a critical flop and a lukewarm box office showing for a $200 million dollar film, and the recent canceling of television's Sarah Connor Chronicles, the Terminator franchise might not be that attractive anymore to major studios. The sale certainly puts a damper on the Terminator Salvation sequels Halcyon had planned with McG.

Halcyon says the rights are worth $60 million. The auction does not cover earlier Terminator films. The rights will give the buyer to make new films, TV series and other spin-offs.