HalcyonCompany Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Back in August, we reported that the Terminator franchise was in some serious legal and financial trouble. The rights are currently owned by the Halcyon Company, who have managed to make more court appearances than they have films. They were in danger of losing the rights to their hedge fund, Pacificor, who was poised to claim them if Halcyon defaulted on their loan.

But according to The Financial Times, Halcyon has now filed for bankruptcy after their lawsuit with Pacificor, and is selling off the rights to Terminator. It would appear that filing for Chapter 11 afforded their precious franchise some protection from the hedge fund, and they can now sell it to bail themselves out. The sale will be conducted by FTI Capital Advisors, and does not cover rights to the earlier Terminator films.

The Times notes that this auction is coming at a particularly tough time for Hollywood, who is feeling the economic crunch just like everyone else. But it notes that Terminator is one of the rare "blockbuster brands" not controlled by a big studio, and that alone has may drooling at the chance to control future properties. Summit is said to be particularly interested (they can probably pay for it just out of Twilight proceeds), as is Sony and Media Rights Capital. But remember, this is America! Everyone has a chance at destroying mankind, and if you have millions (estimates put the sale beyond $60 million, the benchmark set by the sale of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), you can buy them for yourself. I would have faith in something other than John Connor if a Cinematical reader took the reins of this franchise.

Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick has always been a vault for great sci-fi movies. What's impressive is that most have been pretty darned successful. Sure, there's flicks like Impostor and Paycheck, but there's also the first to hit the screen -- Blade Runner -- as well as Total Recall, Minority Report, and my personal favorite, A Scanner Darkly. The thing is, this is only the tip of the Dick iceberg -- he's written over a hundred short stories and 45 novels. In a fairly excessive deal, Variety reports that The Halcyon Company has signed a 3-year, first-look deal with Electric Shepherd Productions (run by Dick's daughters) for all of his writing. That's right -- all of it.

With this renewable deal, they can pretty much pick and choose between Dick's other stories and novels (those that haven't been adapted), and bring them to the big screen, home video, and even other media. For the writer's fans, this can be either wonderful news or a possible kiss of death. Will the company just motor through a bunch of ideas to make money, rather than stay true to his work? Or, will they pick and choose carefully? Luckily, the deal also states that they must be made in conjunction with ESP, so that should help with quality control. With the floodgates open, which Dick novel or story would you like to see on-screen?