terminator

When Halcyon announced its impending bankruptcy and how it was planning to auction the rights to the Terminator Franchise, I was like "Ohhh!"

And when Sony and Lionsgate both pursued the rights, I was like "Hmmm."

Then a hedge fund named Pacificor secured the rights, and I was like "Zzzz."

I may be a science fiction fan, but I'm a financial troglodyte and I actually had to Google "hedge fund" to figure out exactly what was going on here, but then I realized I didn't care and went back to watching movies with lasers that go "pew pew!" and robots that go "beep boop."

The news today (via Variety), which borders on being complete non-news, is that Pacificor is being approached by "numerous studios, producers, financiers and agents" regarding their recent acquisition. Sony and Lionsgate are also still after the franchise and talks have happened, but nothing even remotely resembling a deal has taken place and will not take place anytime soon. Naturally, no piece on anything film related would be complete without a reference to 3D, which Pacificor sees as the natural direction to take further sequels.

It looks like Lionsgate and Sony just weren't willing to spend their cash on the slightly-tarnished Terninator franchise. The rights sold to Pacificor yesterday for $29.5 million according to Deadline Hollywood. Never heard of the illustrious movie studio Pacificor? That's because they don't make movies -- they're investment bankers. They're actually, in no small coincidence, the same bankers who hold all of the previous owner Halcyon's debt (a debt that caused Halcyon to go bankrupt, leading to the sale of the franchise rights in the first place).

This almost guarantees that Terminator will be sold again in the future. Unless Pacificor is getting out of the money business and into show business, they'll either license the hell out of the property or they'll start looking for their own bidders. It's an unexpected new development in the Terminator saga (but oddly typical -- Terminator rights have changed hands several times now), and it will be interesting to see what happens next.

According to Variety, Sony is looking to outbid Lionsgate on the rights to the Terminator franchise later today. The rights are a steal at their current starting price of $15 million dollars, and there's a big part of me that wishes James Cameron would just come out of left field with a bag full of Avatar coin and buy back the series that he created. I don't think that's going to happen, but there are certainly worse ways the man could spend $15 mill.

Personally, I'd rather see Terminator at Sony than Lionsgate, strictly because Sony has better experience in franchise-handling. Compare James Bond and Spider-Man to Transporter and The Punisher. No contest, really. If either company get their hands on the rights, you can expect another Terminator movie soon, but where could the series possibly go after Terminator Salvation? They seem to have painted themselves into a creative corner. Are there more Terminator stories left to tell?

What would you do with the series if you won the rights to the Terminator? Check out our poll below ...

This has to be, hands down, one of the coolest action figures I've ever seen in my life. Hot Toys released a bunch of images of their new 1/6-scale Terminator 2 T-800 action figure, and it is a beaut. Standing over 12" tall, the figure sports realistic clothing, an interchangeable arm (reenacting the scene where he reveals himself as a Terminator to Dyson), removable sunglasses, and 30 points of articulation. I'm drooling here, folks.

Look at that likeness! I don't think anyone has captured an actor in action figure form as well as Hot Toys has here. The figure will be available for pre-order from Sideshow Collectibles very soon (I'd expect the figure to sit in the $200-$500 range), but they're letting those that subscribe to their newsletter take first crack at the toy. Figures.com has the full gallery of official images from Hot Toys.

It may feel odd to call Terminator: Salvation a bomb. After all, it did north of $100 million domestically and well over $300 million internationally, but when your budget is $200 million before advertising costs and your movie is a soulless, lunk-headed piece of junk that no one really cared enough about to champion, you've got a problem. That problem, as reported on Sci-fi Squad previously, is bankruptcy for Halcyon, the company that gave McG a fistful of millions to get bossed around by Christian Bale and drive an already struggling franchise deeper into the Earth's crust.

It's time for an update on this ever-troubled series. Halcyon has announced that the Terminator and John Connor will have a new home by February 1st at the latest. It seems that Halcyon has "engaged in in-depth discussions and negotiations with numerous serious potential buyers, including several major movie studios" and that "a number of attractive refinancing alternatives have also been presented. In order to maximize the value of a transaction for all of the company's creditors and stakeholders, we are fully analyzing all these options."

In regular-person-speak, this translates as "Who's going to give us the most money? Huh? HUH?!" The plan is to use these "discussions" to decide on an appropriate starting bid for the film, TV, DVD and merchandising rights.

Looking for something good and geeky to watch? Here are this week's notable DVD and Blu-ray releases:

Mystery Science Theater 3000: XVI [Limited Edition] (DVD)
I've stopped trying to keep track of the endless parade of MST DVD releases, but I'm told this is a must-buy solely because it comes with a limited-edition Tom Servo figure -- quite possibly the only Tom Servo figure that will ever be made, like forever. The four-disc set features the crew tearing down Z-grade flicks like The Corpse Vanishes, Warrior Of The Lost World, Santa Claus, and Night Of The Blood Beast.

Terminator Salvation (DVD and Blu-ray)
Finally, disgruntled Terminator fans everywhere can buy this joyless McG flick and destroy it with their bare hands today! (Imagine the communal catharsis.) I suggest freezing the disc with liquid nitrogen and shattering it to pieces with a sledgehammer. And if that doesn't work, try tossing it into a giant vat of molten steel -- I hear that's a surefire way to dispatch the Blu-ray director's cut, which features alternate endings and Moon Bloodgood's super-short topless scene.

Better Off Ted: Season One (DVD)
What's not to love about a network show that delivers decent jokes about killer cyborgs and giant HAZMAT suits? Buy this, watch it, and catch season two, premiering December 8 on ABC.

Gremlins (Bu-ray)
Sadly, there's no new material added to this Blu-ray release of director Joe Dante's wild '80s classic. (But you know you're dying to watch Spike melt into a steamy puddle of green goo in high-def.)

Terminator is in trouble. Halcyon is on the verge of bankruptcy and the only real commodity they have are the rights to make new Terminator films, which they plan on selling for a big chunk of money to pay off their even bigger chunk of debt. Enter Joss Whedon with an open letter plea to buy the rights to Terminator, acknowledging that while his offer of $10,000 may have been a bit low, he would do the franchise right, returning it to the cinematic Sci-Fi glory it once knew.

Yet while no one took Joss Whedon's humorous open letter without a grain of salt, the folks at Dark Horse comics did take another Terminator-related Whedon pitch seriously. Except this one is from another side of the family gene pool. Zack Whedon wrote on Techland (via ComicsAlliance):

"I am currently working on a six issue Terminator series for Dark Horse. I just turned in the first script and I'm very excited about it. I love Terminator. I think that movie is so good. Holy Toledo is it good. Now I get to play in that universe and make up Terminator stories of my own that people will get to read. I am not a big-time, famous dude and yet now I am choreographing action sequences set in a post-apocalyptic future overrun by evil cybernetic organisms hell bent on destroying the human race. How is that possible?!"

Looking for something good and geeky to watch? Here are this week's notable DVD and Blu-ray releases:

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (DVD & Blu-ray)
For those who thought Transformers 2 needed more ninja kid-on-ninja kid violence comes The Rise of Cobra, a perfectly forgettable but fun piece of pop productainment. The two-disc version features docs on the film's visual effects plus a digital copy for your computer.

G.I. Joe: Resolute (DVD)
Simply put, Resolute kicks the ass of all other G.I. Joe outings, including the big screen version. The DVD collects all 11 gloriously violent episodes of the Adult Swim series written by comic scribe Warren Ellis. Remember parents, this one's aimed at adults. All the grisly scenes of cartoon blood, murder and mayhem might be too much for the kiddos.

More of this week's DVD releases after the jump.

Earlier today we told you how the rights to the Terminator franchise will be auctioned off by Halcyon (the company that currently owns them) because, well, they're going bankrupt and are currently -- how do they say -- um, up sh*ts creek without a paddle. And, sure, while studios like Sony are said to be interested in purchasing the rights with an eye on possibly re-booting the entire movie franchise, one sci-fi veteran has tossed his name into the hat, too: Joss Whedon. Oh yes, the fella behind Buffy, Firefly and Dollhouse (among others) has written an open letter to "the Terminator owners" offering up a whole bunch of money and some fantastic ideas.

From the letter (posted over at Deadline Hollywood):

2) More Glau. Hey. There's a reason they're called "Summer" movies.

3) Can you say... musical? Well don't. Even I know that's an awful idea.

4) Christian Bale's John Connor will get a throat lozenge. This will also help his Batwork (ten grand for that franchise too, btw.)

5) More porn. John Connor never told Kyle Reese this, but his main objective in going to the past was to get some. What if there's a lot of future-babies that have to be made? Cue wah-wah pedal guitar -- and dollar signs!

6) The movies will stop getting less cool.

Obviously this is a joke, but a damn funny one if I may say so myself. Read the entire letter after the jump, and then let's start a petition to get this franchise in Whedon's hands right away.