Screen Rant » terminator salvation

Terminator Rights Sold To Surprising Bidder

Ross Miller — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:06:10 +0000

After months of speculation over who would become the new owner of the Terminator franchise, we finally have an answer. And it isn’t the studio you think it is.

Last we reported on the auction for the rights to any Terminator movies, TV shows and any spin-offs, Sony (who handled international distribution on Terminator Salvation) put in a bid that tried to top Lionsgate’s minimum bid of $15 million (plus 5% of future gross receipts). The bankrupt company that owned the Terminator rights, Halcyon Group, valued them at around $70 million but needless to say they didn’t get that.

Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood has the scoop that the Terminator rights auction has ended after a marathon bidding that lasted from 3pm to 8pm yesterday. So that’s five hours of “I have $16 million, do I ...

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Sony Bids On Terminator Franchise

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:29:12 +0000

Keeping with a February deadline, the auction of Terminator franchise rights is winding down. Last we heard, Lionsgate was the studio that had secured a position as a bottom line buyer, locking in a minimum bid that any other would-be buyer will have to top.

Well, Variety reports that another studio may in fact be trying to top Lionsgate’s bid, and that studio is Sony.

This news comes from a “source close to the bidding” who claims Sony put in its bid right on the Thursday deadline before bidding closed. Lionsgate’s “stalking horse” bid was $15 million for the Terminator rights and a 5% cut of future gross receipts; Sony’s bid hasn’t been revealed yet, but it had to be higher than the $15 million that Lionsgate has locked in. The bankrupt Halcyon Group (which currently owns the ...

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Get Your Free Digital Copy Of ‘Terminator Salvation’

Anthony Ocasio — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:34:12 +0000

Any movie fans looking for the deal of the day surely can’t pass up this offer as CinemaNow and Divx are giving away digital copies of Terminator Salvation for FREE! This isn’t about whether or not you liked the movie, this is about something being free, legal and if you’ve got something against free… Well, you’re just a better person than me.

For those who are on my level, it’s really simple to get your free movie. Simply click here and you’ll see these instructions:

HOW TO REDEEM:

1. Enter your code below.
2. Create a free CinemaNow account.
3. Install the DivX Player.
4. Download Terminator Salvation.

Enter code TS201023, following the rest of the directions and you’ll soon be watching Christian Bale yell at Director of Photography, Shane Hurlbut. Oh yeah, that’s not part ...

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Terminator Franchise Snags a Low Bidder

Kofi Outlaw — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:59:52 +0000

The Terminator franchise rights are currently up for grabs and we’ve been reporting pretty extensively on the whole fiasco, trying to see (and predict) where they’ll ultimately land. Studios and independent buyers have been rumored to be circling the franchise, but the deadline is quickly approaching: Halcyon has to settle the matter by February of this year.

Nikke Finke over at Deadline Hollywood is now reporting that Halcyon Holding Group (which currently owns the franchise rights and put out last summer’s Terminator Salvation) has attracted a bargain-bin bidder, so that at least their worst case scenario won’t look so dire anymore.

The official term is a “stalking horse bidder” and in layman’s terms it’s a party which is chosen by a bankruptcy firm to hold a fixed low ...

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Oscars Visual Effects Shortlist Announced

Ross Miller — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:13:58 +0000

With the amount of big blockbusters there were this year – films full of explosions, magic spells and other worlds meticulously rendered onscreen – I’ve been looking forward to seeing which of those films will get recognition at the Oscars. And, in the only category you’re likely to see many of the summer ’09 films in is undoubtedly the Best Visual Effects category, which in the past few years has included Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Superman Returns.

The Academy of Motion Picture Art And Sciences has today announced the shortlist for Best Achievement in Visual Effects. The list has seven films on it, which will then be whittled down to three and those will be announced along with the rest of the nominees on February 2nd. Here are the seven films:

Avatar
District 9
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood ...

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Hollywood’s 10 Biggest Social Media Success Stories of 2009

Kofi Outlaw — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:00:00 +0000

The following post was contributed by guest writer by Jeffrey Appelbaum. Jeff is a managing director at Buzzpoint, a social media firm in Los Angeles that specializes in creative online strategies for entertainment and technology companies.

2009 was a record year for Hollywood at the box office. According to the Nielson Co., total box-office receipts from the U.S. and Canada tallied more than $10.6 billion, which is approximately an 8 percent increase over 2008’s record of $9.791 billion. Not too shabby for a down economy.

The year’s slate included not only the usual surplus of sequels and adaptations (Transformers, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, etc.), but some Cinderella stories that defied all financial expectations (The Hangover, Paranormal Activity). However, while 2009 will certainly be remembered as lucrative year at the box office, it’s ...

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Producer Talks Terminator Future & ‘Salvation’ Ending

Ross Miller — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:35:27 +0000

Yesterday we posted about producer Dan Lin talking about the upcoming LEGO movie (as well as a movie called Gangster Squad), which came from an extensive interview the guys over at Collider did with him about everything he has on his slate for the future (15 projects!).

Since the interview was so long, Collider kindly decided to break it up into different posts, each time concentrating on different projects of Lin’s. Today is the turn of the Terminator franchise, of which Lin is an exec producer (at least he was on the fourth movie). Lin talked about two major areas of interest around the franchise: the ending of Terminator Salvation, and where the franchise could be heading.

[SPOILER alert!]

Firstly he talked about the two endings of Salvation – the original one and the one they ended up ...

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James Cameron “Reviews” Terminator Salvation

Ross Miller — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:20:03 +0000

With James Cameron’s mammoth sci-fi motion-capture 3D epic, Avatar, opening in most markets tomorrow (December 18th), I thought it’d be interesting to share Cameron’s thoughts on Terminator Salvation, the fourth installment in a franchise he made legendary with The Terminator and T2: Judgement Day in the ’80s and early ’90s.

Jordan Hoffman over at UGO managed to get some “quality one-to-one time” with the legendary Mr. Cameron. During their “b.s.-free” conversation, Cameron revealed his thoughts on McG’s take on the Terminator franchise. Obviously, as Hoffman points out, Cameron has been a busy man, though he still managed to catch the fourth Terminator installment. Here’s Cameron’s “review” of it:

“It probably didn’t get a fair day in court because I had to watch it at night when I got home from work, over a period of ...

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SR Pick [Video]: Terminator Salvation Deleted Scene Spoof

Mike Wilkerson — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:25:18 +0000

There’s never been any question on how I feel about Terminator Salvation. If there was a sample of hype-in-a-bottle failure, it had a McG label on it during the summer.

Our most recent Screen Rant Pick features a humorous and intrepid team of filmmakers that have released what I think could have been a significant (but fake and completely unofficial) additional deleted scene from Terminator Salvation.

The only thing more horrifying than the actual film were the plans to release a “Director’s Cut” DVD and Blu-ray, which had terribly thin features, and no viable commentary. What’s worse, the aforementioned Director’s Cut was a mere 3 minutes longer.

Note to McG: If only 3 minutes and boobs makes your film the definitive “Director’s Cut”, I vote for releasing what you showcased in theaters and then heading home to prepare another Charlie’s Angels entry.

When we ...

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Terminator Salvation Blu-ray Giveaway – Winners!

Vic Holtreman — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:25:54 +0000

Here are the winners of our Terminator Salvation Blu-ray giveaway:

Don Bucci – Forked River, NJ
Matt Keith – Collierville, TN
Mike Dixon – West Columbia, SC

Congratulations to the winners and thank you to everyone who entered. FYI, we’ve got a MAJOR Harry Potter Contest coming up around the corner – we’re talking BIG.

Hey folks, time for another Screen Rant giveaway – this time we’re bringing you the director’s cut of Terminator Salvation on Blu-ray. We’re giving away 3 copies of this 3-disc set and it includes both the theatrical and director’s cut along with a digital copy.

Disc 1
Theatrical Version of Film (114 min., rated PG-13)
WB Maximum Movie Mode: Director McG hosts while you watch the movie:

Picture-in-Picture
Storyboard comparisons
Terminator mythology timeline

Also:

Re-Forging the Future: See how the filmmakers reinvented the franchise
The ...

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Terminator’s Fate to be Decided by February

Scott Miller — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:19:53 +0000

The Halcyon Co., current owners of the rights to the Terminator franchise and the production company behind Terminator Salvation, issued a statement saying they expect to successfully auction off the franchise rights by February 1, 2010.

Check out the statement from Halcyon that Variety managed to snag:

“Over the past few weeks, Halcyon and its professionals have engaged in in-depth discussions and negotiations with numerous serious potential buyers, including several major movie studios… In addition, 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.”

Huh. Sounds like something a person with a college degree would say to his knuckle-cracking bookies.

Anyway, we here at Screen Rant have ...

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2009 A ‘Milestone Year’ For Movie Profits

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:16:45 +0000

I groaned out loud back in August when I found out about the record-breaking summer 2009 box office profits. Now we’re hearing new projections stating that when New Year’s Eve rolls over into New Year’s Day, the movie industry will have crossed a box office milestone, with profits predicted to exceed the $10 billion mark.

I’m sure we’d all be happy that our favorite medium was thriving in the midst of sharp economic downturn – that is, if so many movies hadn’t turned out to be crap this year. Now, the only thing I’m wondering (and you should too) is: “What lesson will Hollywood take from this?”

Variety is the publication cracking open the profit prediction. If you go back and read our Summer 2009 box office analysis, ...

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Terminator Salvation (Director’s Cut) Blu-ray Review

Vic Holtreman — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:01:43 +0000

I’m finding that there are some movies that I like more upon a second viewing. It could be that once expectations are set aside (either upheld or smashed upon the first viewing) that it’s easier to accept a movie a bit more… forgivingly. While I certainly still don’t love Terminator Salvation (click link for my initial review), I’ll have to admit I found myself enjoying it more the second time around.

Terminator Salvation is released on DVD and Blu-ray this week, and I’ll be giving you the specs and a review of the Blu-ray director’s cut version right here.

The film wasn’t the huge hit the studio was hoping for in the U.S., bringing in only $125MM. However it did much better overseas, bringing it’s worldwide total to a ...

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Terminator Rights Hit Auction Block; Whedon Bids 10K

Kofi Outlaw — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:35:57 +0000

About a month ago I wrote about how the Terminator franchise rights were up for grabs now that the company who owns the rights, Halcyon Co., has filed for bankruptcy. Well, the rights to the beloved sci-fi franchise are now officially on the auction block and we already have a wild opening bid that’s making news.

The man behind the bid? Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse.

According to the LA Times, The Halcyon Co. hopes to have the Terminator rights sold off by January, 2o1o, if only to start recouping some of the money they lost on the failed venture that was this summer’s Terminator Salvation (that title suddenly holds a lot of irony, doesn’t it?). There is also the possibility that Halcyon will ...

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Terminator Franchise Rights Up For Grabs

Kofi Outlaw — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:02:25 +0000

Somebody over at The Halcyon Co. should’ve been listening when Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor told us that the future isn’t certain in Terminator 2. Just a few months ago, a sequel to Terminator Salvation was all but guaranteed; then came the lawsuits between Halcyon (owner of the Terminator franchise rights) and Pacificor, the hedge-fund that sponsored Halcyon’s purchase of the Terminator rights.

Now, it seems that The Halcyon Co. (headed by Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek) is so far in the red – between Terminator Salvation‘s underwhelming returns at the box office, the venture capital needed to buy the franchise rights and alleged manipulations by Pacificor to ensure Halcyon’s financial ruin – that the company is reportedly looking to sell off the Terminator rights to make a buck.

If you want to read details of ...

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GROAN… Summer 2009 Sets Box Office Record

Kofi Outlaw — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:55:02 +0000

So we just finished telling you why the Summer of 2009 was the season of bad movies. Now, as if to validate our point (sarcasm alert) Variety has just announced that the Summer of ’09 has set a new record as the highest grossing summer of all time at the U.S. domestic box office.

So there you have it, folks, it’s official: Hollywood has no reason to ever hire good writers, produce good scripts, or offer us anything better at the multiplex than what Michael Bay can half-envision.

Awesome.

The numbers of course tell a deeper tale than that, so if you’d like to find out just how the heck this summer managed to break the box office bank, here’s the breakdown:

Top earners for the season were Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($399.4 million), Harry Potter and ...

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Summer 2009: The Season Of Bad Movies [Updated]

Heath McKnight — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:38:14 +0000

Well, the summer movie season is officially over, and while box office earnings are way up, it seems like the quality of the films have actually gone way down. But for every few badly-written movies (like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Transformers 2, and G.I. Joe–though some will say it’s not that bad), there was a diamond in the rough like District 9. So why were so many movies so bad in the summer of ’09, even if they did make a lot of money? Hint: The Writers Strike!

Before the summer began, I wrote an article about how the 2007 Writers Strike might affect the summer 2009 movies. I speculated that back in 2007, studios were nervous about how long the writers strike could last, leaving them with a ...

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Terminator Salvation Rated-R Director’s Cut On The Way

Ross Miller — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:02:21 +0000

For those of you who were upset that Terminator Salvation wasn’t R-Rated, you can now rest easy: a Rated-R version of the film is said to be coming to DVD and Blu-ray soon.

There was quite a bit of back and forth before Terminator Salvation came out about it being PG-13 instead of R-Rated, with some people being extremely upset that it wasn’t a hardcore action movie like the first two were, while others didn’t think the PG-13 rating was an issue. The Director’s Cut of the Terminator Salvation has been labelled by the MPAA as “R” for “some violence,” and, “brief nudity,” with the latter probably being the inclusion of a reported scene of star Moon Bloodgood removing her top that wasn’t included in the theatrical version.

Normally I would be really psyched about a movie like Terminator Salvation ...

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Sam Worthington Talks Avatar, Terminator Reaction & More

Rob Frappier — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:01:42 +0000

Hollywood’s newest favorite Aussie actor Sam Worthington has a lot on his plate coming up. In addition to being the lead in James Cameron’s long-awaited special-effects extravaganza, Avatar, Worthington will be playing Perseus in the upcoming remake of Clash of the Titans and is rumored for the part of Captain Nemo in Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Wow, I’m just writing about these films and I’m tired.

Anyway, Steve Weintraub at Collider had the chance to sit down with Worthington on the set of Clash of the Titans to talk about some of his upcoming projects and his thoughts on his most recent big-budget film, Terminator: Salvation. Check out some portions of the interview below. For the full interview, make sure to head over to Collider.

On the critical reaction to Terminator: Salvation:

“You know, there was ...

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Do Pending Lawsuits Mean No Terminator 5?

Rob Frappier — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:46:22 +0000

Just a couple weeks after we reported that McG was prepping Terminator 5, it appears that the film may be dead in the water. According to a number of sources, a proposed sequel to this year’s underwhelming Terminator: Salvation may be out of the question due to a legal dispute between The Halcyon Co. (which own the rights to the Terminator franchise) and Pacificor (a Santa Barbara, California-based hedge fund that helped Halcyon buy the franchise).

As explained in the L.A. Times, The Halcyon Co., which is headed by Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek, has filed two separate $30M lawsuits against the company (one against Pacificor and one against a former Pacificor employee).

What’s all the litigation about?

I’m glad you asked, because it’s a little complicated. The lawsuits stem back to April 2007, when Pacificor ...

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