Terminator Franchise To Be Auctioned Off 256
Posted
by
ScuttleMonkey
from the i'll-be-back-in-syndication dept.
from the i'll-be-back-in-syndication dept.
"For sale: One slightly-used Terminator. Still works, minor attitude problems, get it cheap now!' Several sources are reporting that the Terminator franchise is set to be auctioned off just three weeks after another well known franchise, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was sold for $60 million. The present owner, Halcyon, has filed for chapter 11 after a dispute with a hedge fund that lent Halcyon the money to buy the rights to begin with. The auction will include rights to everything but the first two films.
Whedon in the bidding (Score:3, Informative)
Joss Whedon has issued an open letter, bidding $10,000 for the franchise. [tvovermind.com]
It's funny as hell.
Link to source (Score:5, Informative)
Not blog. Blog for stupid head.
Source: http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/joss-whedon-makes-bid-for-terminator/ [deadline.com]
It's a rights deal (Score:5, Informative)
The winner of the auction does not get the rights to any profits from the first two films.
The winner does, on the other hand, get the right to do anything else with the rest of the entire franchise.
As I understand it, that could include sequels to Terminator: Salvation or the Terminator 3 plotlines, continuations of the Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series, or entirely new series based in the universe. From the sound of it, they're even selling off licensing rights to all of these properties.
Still worthless, you say? According to TFA, the last time the Terminator franchise rights were sold, they went for $25 million. The purchaser used the rights to make Terminator: Salvation, which grossed $380 million worldwide. Not so bad.
(On the other hand, it's maybe worth noting that the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles auctioned for more than twice what was paid for Terminator...)
Re:First two films? (Score:5, Informative)
They only made 2.
WTF are you talking about?
Re:It's a rights deal (Score:4, Informative)
Yeah, Hollywood is notorious for shady accounting practices. But these involve sticking investors for one movie with expenses from another, or keeping payables on a separate schedule from receivables. That's not what's going on here: the movie didn't last long in theaters (the show I went to was practically empty) and there's no question that grosses were "disappointing". Conceivably the production costs are inflated, but I doubt it — this kind of movie is not cheap to make.
(By way of comparison, Little Miss Sunshine grossed about $100 million, a 1/4 of the gross for Salvation. But LMS only cost $8 million to make.)
They'll make some money from disc sales and merchandise tie-ins. But the big payday for this kind of movie is long lines at the theater, and it just didn't happen in this case. Oh yeah, and Halcyon was notorious for litigation even before they sued their partners in this movie, so expect the lawyers to take a big chunk.
Re:First two films? (Score:2, Informative)
Link to actual source (Score:3, Informative)
I agree with your sentiment, but that is not the actual source. Try the actual original posting by Joss Whedon.
Source: http://whedonesque.com/comments/22240 [whedonesque.com]
Re:First two films? (Score:3, Informative)
Apparently Arnie wanted to overdub the German version himself because he speaks German but the directors wouldn't let him because his Austrian accent would have made the Terminator sound like a German farmer.
Now that would have been a real good comedic twist.