Variety has published an interesting piece with regards to the rights for Terminator 5. Apparently the rights to the follow-up to the upcoming release of Terminator Salvation aren’t as yet secured and in all likelihood it seems MGM will be the studio to jump in where they decided not to for Salvation.
MGM has a 30-day right of first refusal to finance and distribute the fifth “Terminator” film, a right earned through the settlement of a lawsuit between the studio and Halcyon partners Victor Kubicek and Derek Anderson. The 30-day drama will begin once Halcyon delivers its demands to MGM along with a first draft of the screenplay for the Terminator 5.
Variety‘s Michael Fleming has sources telling him MGM has every intention of making a serious play for the franchise, potentially trumping Warner Bros., which is distributing Terminator Salvation as well as Terminator 3 in 2003.
MGM passed on Salvation considering Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn’t set to return and the studio had only an early script by T3 scribes John Brancato and Michael Ferris of which they developed with T3 helmer Jonathan Mostow. Of course, the script for Salvation has changed greatly including work done by uncredited names such as Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight), Paul Haggis (Casino Royale), Shawn Ryan (“The Shield”) and Anthony Zuiker (“C.S.I.”).
With McG already set to return to direct the fifth film and Christian Bale also aboard to reprise the role of John Connor. However, the Terminator franchise doesn’t come for free and MGM would have to pay.
Variety reports Warner Bros. paid approximately $50 million for domestic rights with Sony paying more than $75 million for international rights. Is MGM up to the task?
“If Terminator Salvation makes good on its current momentum, it will be one of the most sought-after franchises in town, and every distributor will be studying ways to approach the rights holder,” David Molner, managing director of Screen Capital Intl. told Variety. “Only time will tell whether pole position is enough for MGM to prevail in that contest.”
Fleming speculates the possibility of dirty dealing and also says the details to which MGM would have to abide by, such as the possibility of distributing both domestically and internationally, are unknown. The seem to be a lot of question marks, but it could be interesting, especially if Terminator Salvation ends up being the huge hit I expect it to be.
For more on Terminator Salvation, which hits theaters on May 21, click here.
