Deadline
Since his first return to show business in The Governator doesn't look all that impressive, Arnold Schwarzenegger will use an old standby to make a big splash back into acting. Deadline is reporting that the action superstar is attached to a rights packaged being shopped around Hollywood today that will have him back as The Terminator. Though no screenwriter is currently attached and it's not clear if this is simply a sequel or some sort of remake or reboot for the franchise, the project already has Fast Five helmer Justin Lin attached to direct for a package that would cost studios $25 million (maybe more) to pick up.
Apparently Universal, Sony and Lionsgate are already looking at the package, so there should be an official deal coming sometime soon. Deadline points out that there's a bit of a ticking clock behind the Terminator franchise though. With copyright law, if you assign your rights to another entity, you get them back in 25 years. So original franchise director James Cameron gave his rights up awhile back, but he'll end up being back in control of them in 2018. Obviously that's more than enough time for any studio to get one, maybe even two or three, Terminator projects released before they would have to strike a new deal with Cameron for the franchise rights.
As for Lin directing the film I can't say that helming a project like Fast Five inspires much confidence (but honestly I haven't seen the flick yet). It just seems like he comes from a different kind of action world than we're used to seeing Terminator inhabit. I think that's largely why McG didn't pull off Terminator Salvation back in 2009. I guess we'll find out how Lin handles the material in the next two years or so. Anyway, the lesson from this news is that we should always listen to Schwarzenegger when he says, "I'll be back," and he'll likely be saying it again sometime soon
No comments:
Post a Comment