Editorial Staff
To fix on the further adventures of John Connor
“The Terminator” series is set for a major rehaul with a new production company signing on to make the next batch of movies. In short, what this means is that the character of John Connor (no doubt set to be played a different actor; the third person to play that part, excluding the guy that briefly played older John) will be present in the next three films, but Schwarzenegger’s iconic cyborg character will most likely be missing.
This is bound to upset the stick-in-the-mud fans of the Schwarzenegger series – in particular, AB King – but without the Governator front and centre in the next chapter (he’s too damn busy), it’s ostensibly the only way to go. And, the trend to ‘reboot’ is in right now, after all.
The Halcyon Company announced today the acquisition of all the “Terminator” franchise rights. These rights include the right to produce any future “Terminator” films, as well as all future merchandising and licensing rights, certain future revenues derived from “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”, as well as certain rights in the television project “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” and the sole right to produce all future “Terminator” projects in any new or existing media.
The Halcyon Company is a recently formed, privately financed, film development, production and financing company, headed by co-CEOs Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek. “The Terminator franchise represents by far the most popular and successful franchise not owned by a major studio,” said Mr. Kubicek. “While we have several other projects in the works, we see this global franchise as a cornerstone of Halcyon’s future business plans.”
“Terminator 4” will be based on a script by John Brancato and Michael Ferris and is envisioned to be the first film in a new Terminator trilogy. Halcyon plans to immediately begin pre-production on the new film.
While as yet no distribution agreement has been set, Halcyon anticipates that T4 will be ready for release in the first half of 2009, if not earlier.
Moritz Borman, the Executive Producer of “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” as well as the then-CEO of Intermedia Films (the co-production financial partner for T3), is slated to produce the new “Terminator 4” film as well as being an integral member of the branding and licensing team. Kubicek and Anderson will co-produce.
Moritz Borman stated, “With T3, we included many incidental details and plot points that, along with the main narrative, set the stage for an entirely new set of inter-related stories covering the future adventures of John Connor and the Terminators. This new Terminator trilogy will build upon the already huge worldwide Terminator fan base, which was both revitalized and expanded with the global success of T3.”
Anderson said, “We also plan to maximize the potential of the Terminator franchise by entering into strategic relationships with world class merchandising and licensing partners. By quickly pursuing and finalizing these new opportunities, we are confident that all of these ventures can be completed in time to fully maximize their value by coinciding with the first of the new Terminator’s release.”
