Movies
Sony Enters Bidding War for ‘Terminator’ Franchise
Can anyone revive the Terminator franchise? Step one would be to remove McG from the equation, while also turning it back into a “chase film” as originally intended. But beyond that, it would take a madman like James Cameron to find a truly futuristic and invigorating way to revive the franchise. While Warner Bros. is no longer involved, buzz hit the web that Lionsgate might score the rights — which to me would mean a $12-20m Terminator film (no thanks). Thankfully, Sony has joined the bidding war (which I would find hilarious as Legion was a failed rip-off). Read on for the skinny.
From Variety:
“Sony’s joined Lionsgate in the bidding on the rights to the “Terminator” franchise.
The studio had no comment but a source close to the bidding confirmed that Sony submitted a bid Thursday, the final day for submitting offers.
Lionsgate stepped up last month as the first bidder for the rights to the “Terminator” franchise with a “stalking horse” or floor bid of $15 million and a 5% cut of future gross receipts.
Halcyon Group put the franchise up for sale in September-. The auction for the “Terminator” assets — which include the rights to future “Terminator” pics, TV series, DVDs and merchandise — will be held Monday at the offices of FTI Consulting in Los Angeles, followed by a bankruptcy court hearing two days later.
If Lionsgate doesn’t win the auction, it will receive $750,000 as a breakup fee from the winning bidder.
“Terminator Salvation,” the fourth film in the franchise, was produced by Halcyon with Warner Bros. handling domestic distribution and Sony taking international. It carried a production pricetag of about $200 million and took in $371 million worldwide.
Halcyon paid Mario Kassar $30 million for the “Terminator” rights in 2007, then filed for Chapter 11 as a result of a dispute with hedge fund Pacificor, which financed the purchase. At that point, Halcyon toppers Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek told the bankruptcy court that they valued the “Terminator” franchise above $70 million. ”
Paramount is heading to Sleepy Hollow with a brand new feature film take on the classic Headless Horseman tale, with Lindsey Anderson Beer (Pet Sematary: Bloodlines) announced to direct the movie back in 2022. But is that project still happening, now two years later?
The Hollywood Reporter lets us know this afternoon that Paramount Pictures has renewed its first-look deal with Lindsey Anderson Beer, and one of the projects on the upcoming slate is the aforementioned Sleepy Hollow movie that was originally announced two years ago.
THR details, “Additional projects on the development slate include… Sleepy Hollow with Anderson Beer attached to write, direct, and produce alongside Todd Garner of Broken Road.”
You can learn more about the slate over on The Hollywood Reporter. It also includes a supernatural thriller titled Here Comes the Dark from the writers of Don’t Worry Darling.
The origin of all things Sleepy Hollow is of course Washington Irving’s story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” which was first published in 1819. Tim Burton adapted the tale for the big screen in 1999, that film starring Johnny Depp as main character Ichabod Crane.
More recently, the FOX series “Sleepy Hollow” was also based on Washington Irving’s tale of Crane and the Headless Horseman. The series lasted four seasons, cancelled in 2017.
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