The silence prevailing over the rights auction for the Terminator franchise was broken today and a front runner has emerged.
The Halcyon Group, a company run by producers Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek who are auctioning all future rights to the Terminator franchise as part of a Chapter 11 reorganization, filed with the courts and named Lionsgate as the current top bidder. Their bid of $15 million cash plus 5% of gross receipts would have to be beat by at least $500,000.
Sony and Warner Bros. were previously named as interested parties after they successfully distributed Terminator Salvation overseas. Rights to that film are not part of the auction and it is unknown whether either studio had placed a lower bid.
All bids are due by February 5 with a judge making the final decision on who can theoretically move forward with a Terminator 5 film on February 10.
Lionsgate currently owns the home video rights to Terminator 2: Judgment Day and has taken advantage of those rights many times over the years with updated versions. Future Terminator properties, whether in film or television, would add a sci-fi element to their existing slate of seemingly never-ending Saw and Tyler Perry films.
Source: LA Times
