-
Monday, September 14
Producers Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek purchased the rights to the Terminator franchise in 2007 for their Halcyon Co. production company, using a $30-million loan from hedge fund Pacifcor. Two years later, Terminator Salvation has earned $371 million worldwide, mostly overseas, while Anderson and Kubicek have filed for bankruptcy.
But things are looking up for them. Variety reports that a bankruptcy judge has given the producers a reprieve, allowing them to continue developing Terminator 5 and other properties. The producers blame Pacificor for pushing them into default, and Anderson thinks Salvation's quick turnaround was also at fault.
From when we heard about the possible opportunity, and the time in which we had to act, when we closed on the rights, the development of the script, to when the film was released, was such a short window. There were huge time obstacles we had to overcome. Obviously, this is the last place we thought we would be in.... But you have to deal with what's in front of you. It's been eye-opening.
The pair are hoping not to sell the Terminator rights and Anderson claims there is plenty of interest in another Terminator:
Victor and I are both huge Terminator fans, and we do see [Salvation] as a foundation for where we take the franchise in the future. Studios are enthusiastic. We have no regrets, all the trials and tribulations aside.
So Terminator 5 is back on track, for the time being. Considering Salvation's mediocre reception, it's hard to determine if this is good news or not.
Posted 9/14/2009 by Ryan
Related: Terminator Salvation | Terminator 5 | Derek Anderson | Victor Kubicek
-
Monday, August 24
The Terminator franchise may be done after Terminator Salvation, and it's not because of the movie's box-office performance. While Salvation may have done only mediocre business domestically, it performed extremely well overseas, enough for director McG to start planning a fifth, time-traveling-centric movie. However, Terminator producers Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek, whose production company The Halcyon Company owns the Terminator movie rights, have put the future of the franchise in doubt by entering into a legal and financial snafu.
The LATimes has been following the story, which breaks down like this: First, Anderson and Kubicek filed a lawsuit against hedge fund Pacificor, the investor who loaned the duo the money to buy the Terminator rights. Then, two days later, Anderson and Kubicek filed for bankruptcy. If the two cannot return the money or win the lawsuit, then the Terminator rights will end up in the hands of Pacificor. The LATimes speculates that this closes the door on Terminator 5 and the rest of the franchise. That is, unless a hedge fund investor is interested in making a futuristic sci-fi movie!
Stay tuned to ReelzChannel.com for more updates.
Posted 8/24/2009 by Ryan
Related: McG | Terminator Salvation | Terminator 5
-
Tuesday, August 11
At Thursday's Television Critics Assocation awards, controversial director McG confirmed that he would be returning to the Terminator franchise that he helped relaunch with this year's Terminator Salvation. Salvation under-performed at the box office, and McG admitted that his film was missing an essential ingredient that original Terminator director, James Cameron, added to the mix.
I think the film missed some of the fun that Jim brought to the early pictures. I'm a disciple of Jim ... and clearly I didn't do a good enough job on that picture and I didn't satisfy the fanbase to the degree that I would expect to satisfy them. And I take that very seriously and I just work that much more diligently to make sure I do that in the next one.
McG also said that he realized that the film's storyline suffered because of the lack of a central antagonist and the fact that the story was too divided between Christian Bale's character, John Connor, and Sam Worthington's character, Marcus Wright.
We want to put more meat on the bone because we have the great Christian Bale, but I take a lot of satisfaction in playing a role in breaking the great Sam Worthington, who I think is one of the best actors out there.
McG enjoyed working with Worthington so much that he teased that he might cast the Aussie actor in his upcoming film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: "I might cast him as Nemo if it's in the cards. We'll see."
Correction: We originally listed McG as having made this announcement at Sunday's Teen Choice Awards.
Posted 8/11/2009 by BrentJS
Related: McG | Sam Worthington | Terminator 5 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo
-
Monday, August 10
While promoting the Human Target TV series at the Teen Choice Awards, director McG dropped the news that a sequel to Terminator Salvation is already in the works. McG said that Warner Bros. and Sony were both very excited about the project, but that 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was his immediate concern.
When asked about the plot for the sequel, McG said:
One of the problems is that in a post-apocalyptic world, everybody's a little bummed out because — and introduce it in this picture.
And I think that is a platform for great storytelling. Because I always love it when (Kyle) Reese is in our world, as you saw in the first picture, and everybody thinks he's out of his ... mind and he knows and he can't afford to be concerned. And he's got to convince someone he cares about to come with him! And that's one of the engines. And we'll have a much more clearly defined antagonist in the new picture. It will be more of a chase movie with a new Terminator that is on your ass.
Posted 8/10/2009 by BrentJS
Related: McG | Terminator 5
-
Monday, June 8
Finally, Terminator Salvation tore up the competition at the box office. Variety reports that the sequel brought in $67.5 million during its European opening weekend. In the U.S., the movie lost to the Night at the Museum sequel its first weekend.
This is good news for director McG, who already gave away the plot for the next Terminator sequel before Salvation even opened. Fans know the next movie will have John Connor time traveling to before the Skynet invasion. A Terminator movie that involves time travel? What will they think of next?
Now that Salvation has finally tasted box-office success, perhaps McG's sequel can actually happen. Rumors are circulating that Terminator 5 will also take place in London.
Posted 6/8/2009 by Ryan
Related: Robert Patrick | McG | Terminator 2: Judgment Day | Terminator Salvation | Terminator 5
-
Monday, May 4
At the end of an interview with Film Journal International, Terminator Salvation director McG offers some surprising hints about what he is thinking for the sequel. "I strongly suspect," he says, "the next movie is going to take place in a [pre-Judgment Day] 2011." He goes on in detail:
John Connor is going to travel back in time and he's going to have to galvanize the militaries of the world for an impending Skynet invasion. They've figured out time travel to the degree where they can send more than one naked entity. So you're going to have hunter killers and transports and harvesters and everything arriving in our time and Connor fighting back with conventional military warfare, which I think is going to be f******* awesome. I also think he's going to meet a scientist that's going to look a lot like present-day Robert Patrick [who famously played the T-1000 in Terminator 2], talking about stem-cell research and how we can all live as idealized, younger versions of ourselves.
None of this is set in stone, of course. It does suggest that the Terminator Salvation plot line will be wrapped up enough to leave the post-apocalyptic world behind for a while. And since this is to be a trilogy, it would leave open the question of which world, and which time, the final installment would be set in.
Posted 5/4/2009 by Bill
Related: McG | Terminator Salvation | Terminator 5