TERMINATOR Rights Getting Auctioned Off

The proposed fifth installment in the TERMINATOR franchise will have to sit on the back-burner, as, according to the Financial Times, the rights to the franchise are to be auctioned off later this month.

With the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES property getting picked up by Nickelodeon for $60 million a few weeks ago and Disney purchasing Marvel for $4 billion in late August, the chances of a studio paying a hefty price for something like TERMINATOR seems pretty likely.  According to the Financial Times, the front runner to do just that is Sony Pictures.  Summit Entertainment and Media Rights Capital are also tracking the sale.

The rights are being sold by The Halcyon Company, who picked up the rights themselves in 2007 for $25 million.  While their entry, TERMINATOR SALVATION, brought in $380 million in worldwide box office, the company filed Chapter 11 after a conflict was raised between them and Pacificor, the company that lent them the money to make the film.  The rights being sold off are not for properties already created in the franchise, but for future films and TV spin-offs.