Wow, it was just a little while ago that news got out that the rights to the Terminator franchise had been bought by Halycon, and that they were committed to brining us new Terminator films. Well, looks like that dream has to be put on the shelf for a while as Halycon is now waist deep in a legal fight with MGM over creative control of the future franchise films.
The good folks over at Moviehole give us the following:
MGM & Halcyon Co. (who hold the rights to the franchise now) are locked up over distribution deals, and it looks as though it’s all headed to court, resulting in further delays to any possible future big screen ventures. MGM have apparently sought control over budget, script, director and male lead (basically, the whole thing). Halycon Co. are claiming that MGM were only ever entitled to a 30 day “look-see”, and that’s now passed
The MGM position here seems fishy. But until I have a chance to look at the public court documents (which have not been released) it’s hard to formulate any sort of opinion. On the surface it looks like MGM want a big cut of action that ain’t theirs. But who knows… they could be totally entitled to what they’re asking for.
The losers here are the Terminator franchise fans. This battle could take YEARS to settle. So make yourselves comfortable folks… we may be asking is PRESIDENT Arnie is free to shot a cameo by the time this thing starts filming.
