… a hedge fund? Wait, what? Let's back up a bit: Remember how the last private company who owned the Terminator rights (and were responsible for Terminator Salvation) went bankrupt, forcing an auction of the rights…right? Well, all of us were under the assumption that a studio would swoop in and rescue the rights from limbo in order to possibly reboot the entire franchise down the line. In fact, up until yesterday, word had it that both Sony and Lionsgate were aggressively pursuing those rights at auction.
Well, things change. Deadline Hollywood reports that the rights have sold for $29.5 million to – wait for it – the Santa Barbara-based hedge fund Pacificor which forced the previous rights holders, The Halycon Corp., into bankruptcy in the first place. This came after both Sony (who distributed Terminator Salvation internationally) and Lionsgate were both aggressively bidding, though they each saw that Pacificor was going to pay any amount for the Terminator rights.
Pacificor, meanwhile, was accused by The Halycon Corp. of – among other things – extortion, bribery and fraud during their heated head-to-head which eventually forced Halycon into bankruptcy. Did Pacificor buy the rights just to spite the folks who they originally loaned the money to in the first place? Who the hell knows – fact of the matter is there's such a legal mess wrapped around the Terminator rights now that I'd be surprised if we see a new film within the next five years. Plus, with such a sour taste in their mouths, I can't see either Sony or Lionsgate helping to distribute, and after the somewhat unsuccessful fourth installment, who knows if Warner Bros. would even want to go near the property again.
What do you think? Interested in a new Terminator franchise?
