By Nikki Finke
BREAKING NEWS! EXCLUSIVE: I've learned that
the auction for the Terminator movie, TV program, and other spin-off
rights just ended after a marathon bidding session today that streched
from 3 PM this afternoon until 8 PM tonight. Both Sony Pictures and
Lionsgate separately were bidding for the franchise, and then joined
up after the first round was completed. But the studios didn't come
away the winners -- which, I'm told, prompted a furious Sony Pictures
Entertainment's president of worldwide affairs Peter Schlessel to
"storm out" of the Downtown LA offices of FTI Capital Advisors which
was holding the auction. Instead, Halcyon Holding Corp accepted the
$29.5 million bid from, of all parties, the debtholder which pushed
it into bankruptcy, Santa Barbara-based hedge fund Pacificor. (This is
the same Pacificor whom Halcyon accused in a lawsuit of extortion,
bribery, and fraud and demanded $30M in damages.)
Back on May 9, 2007, rights to the Terminator series passed fromTonight, Sony and Lionsgate dropped out at just under $29.5 million
when it became clear that Pacificor "was willing to pay almost any
amount of money for Terminator," an insider tells me. Halcyon will
receive $5 million for every Terminator movie made from now on, as
well as retains the rich revenue streams from the movies Terminator 3
and 4. An arrangement also was made that the sale now wipes out the
debt Halcyon owed to Pacificor and all the tther creditors. Of course,
the deal is subject to approval by the bankruptcy court. It will be
presented to the judge at a hearing on Thursday.
producers Andy Vajna and Mario Kassar to the privately funded Halcyon
Co (formed by entrepreneurs Victor Kubicek and Derek Anderson) for a
reported $25M-$30 million. It was Pacificor that lent Halcyon the
money to conclude the deal. Once Pacificor pushed Halcyon into Chapter
11, the Terminator franchise went up for sale. Lionsgate was selected
as the stalking horse bidder with a ground floor offer of $15 million.
Obviously the Hollywood entities kicking the tires on this rights
offer, including Summit Entertainment and Media Rights Capital, didn't
think this character/concept was played out. After all, After all, Terminator 4:
Salvation made $380M worldwide.
