Slashdot Mirror


Terminator Franchise To Be Auctioned Off

"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.

17 of 256 comments (clear)

  1. First two films? by soupforare · · Score: 4, Funny

    They made more than two?

    --
    --- Do you believe in the day?
    1. Re:First two films? by sexconker · · Score: 5, Informative

      They only made 2.
      WTF are you talking about?

    2. Re:First two films? by jez9999 · · Score: 4, Funny

      the Terminator in it wasn't really likable (T1's was an unstoppable killing machine; T2's was an unstoppable killing machine with a heart of gold; T3's was just a dick)

      Actually, the one thing T3's didn't have was a dick.

  2. Does the state of California come with it? by syousef · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...or do you have to buy the governator separately?

    --
    These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
    1. Re:Does the state of California come with it? by Clipless · · Score: 4, Funny

      Actually, I think you inherit California's debt. That is why Halcyon had to file for chapter 11.

    2. Re:Does the state of California come with it? by sexconker · · Score: 5, Funny

      First of all I just want to make sure you
      understand that California's economy isn't
      controlled by the governor. The legislature
      killed off any hopes of a balanced budget.

      You were obviously making a joke at the expense
      of the state of California. but it was just
      unfunny and shitty.

      Sincerely,

      Arnold Schwarzenegger.

    3. Re:Does the state of California come with it? by h4rm0ny · · Score: 4, Funny


      You know, I read that as a joke at first. And then I looked at your username and thought to myself... what wouldArnold pick?

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
  3. Sarah Conner Chronicles by jameskojiro · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Was about the only good thing from the Terminator Franchise int he last 10 years.....

    And that is Sad....

    --
    Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
  4. Re:I bid $1 by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Funny

    You would get considerably more crossover cred with "I'd buy that for a dollar!"...

  5. Link to source by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
  6. The scene at a garage sale... by petrus4 · · Score: 5, Funny

    (Crowd of people walking around in the front yard of a surburban house, looking at various bits of household junk)

    Customer: (Looking around) Oh hey, what's this? It looks like some sort of oversized metal action figure!

    Homeowner: That's a robot we've had down in the basement for a couple years now. Has an interesting history. Supposedly, it was thrown together by an unknown, but obviously brilliant computer scientist as a work project. Shame about what happened to him.

    Supposedly after he'd finished building the thing, it got loose. There was this shotgun toting psycho of a woman who the police found raving and screaming about how it was trying to murder her and her kid. The police had a hell of a time taking her into custody; they've kept her sedated and locked up in a padded cell ever since.

    Customer: Sounds like an amazing story! How much do you want for it?

    Homeowner: (Slowly, pausing) $60 million.

    Customer: WHAT?! But anyway...if anyone was even going to remotely consider paying that kind of money for it, it'd need to be able to do something beyond awesome! So give me a demonstration! How do I turn it on?

    (Finds an old car battery and some jumper cables nearby, as other items for sale)

    Hey, this'd work!

    Homeowner: I'm not sure that's such a good idea...

    Customer: It looks like just a kid's toy! Except a bit bigger of course. I'm sure it's perfectly safe!

    (Applies cables to battery and T800, causing an explosion of sparks. The T800 rises up slowly from its' previous sitting position, its' eyes beginning to glow red)

    Homeowner: ...

  7. Re:Whedon in the bidding by Locke2005 · · Score: 4, Funny

    What's wrong with idea for "Terminator: The Musical!"? I think that's the best idea ever to come out of Joss Whedon! With hit songs like "I'll be Bach!" and "Hasta la vista, baby, baby, baby!" how can it possibly fail?

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  8. It's a rights deal by PCM2 · · Score: 4, 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...)

    --
    Breakfast served all day!
  9. Re:First two films excluded... by petrus4 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I would prefer it to die, considering that since the second movie, what have we gotten? If it were not for a certain actresses connection to another cult fave who would have put up with the series? That was jump shark city.

    James Cameron's canon ended with T2. Although it's not shown in the film, at the end of the T2 novel, Connor and the Resistance succeed in beating Skynet.

    Sarah dies in that novel as well. She was with John almost up until the end of the war; it was only at about the second last engagement with the Machines, where she is killed on a supply run.

    Cameron refused to be involved with T4; he made the comment that he'd said everything he wanted to say by the end of T2.

  10. Re:First two films excluded... by natehoy · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...some of us are sure that there are only three Indy films.

    Wait a second, there ARE only three Indy films. Why do you mention that fact like it's some sort of controversy? But I can understand how people could get confused. Lead actors occasionally play other roles.

    I do remember the MacGyver spinoff that Harrison Ford starred in, "crystal head" or something. I understand that some people think that had something to do with the Jones franchise, since Ford was the lead character in all the Indy films.

    But that's just confusion on their part, same as someone thinking that there was more than one "Die Hard" movie just because Willis starred in some other flicks, or that there are more than three Star Wars movies.

    PS: I'm not sure what they are selling off. There are really two Terminator films.

    Maybe they are trying to sell off "Summer Glau Show" off as part of the Terminator franchise (in which, if I could understand the plot, has something to do with her being a Terminator. I'm not entirely sure, though, because people keep blathering and getting on screen and sometimes blocking a clear view of her.) If so, that show can come back. Keep her and the mom, drop the young dude who appears to be Anakin Skywalker as a kid or something (boy genius who whines a lot about some destiny). Might sell a few ads on an off night and pay for itself if they don't try to spend too much time developing a cohesive plot or special effects that aren't wardrobe-related.

    --
    "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
  11. Re:Worthless by snspdaarf · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey, I am sure someone wants to buy Howard the Duck!

    With any luck, it will be Tyson Foods.

    --
    Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
  12. Re:First two films excluded... by DavidTC · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not shown at the end of the second film, but it is explained right at the start of the first film if you pay attention.

    It clearly says that the final battle would be fought here...tonight.

    Now, if Skynet had killed Connor retroactively, that would have been the final battle of humans, but that didn't happen, so that's not what it was talking about.

    No, Skynet only sends the terminator back because it lost. Human burst in, and it fired up the experimental time machine and it sends two terminators back. One to 1984 and one to 1995. (If you think about which was sent where, and what Skynet had to have know about each time, you'll realize it makes sense. Remember the first one managed to kill two Sarah Connors.)

    The humans quickly send Reese back, and then they quickly reprogram the other Arnold that's laying around and send him back too.

    Perhaps this was two different battles, or two different facilities, but anyway, the point is, the time machines were, essentially, the last stand before Skynet was defeated. (Logically, you don't want to let your enemies have access to your time machines, so they'd be almost as well protected as yourself.)

    I suspect that Skynet figured out altering the past was just as big a threat to it as anything else, hence the time machine being used only when it about to be defeated.

    If you're wondering about T3, that actually took place in a different future, after T2 moved judgment day. (Which means that Skynet was right about time travel being a threat to it, as the Skynet from the first two movies is essentially dead, or rather never existed.)

    --
    If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?