The LA Times are reporting that the current owners of the Terminator franchise, Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek are currently facing bankruptcy and are selling the rights to the iconic film series. The pair acquired the franchise back in 2007 for $25 million dollars, producing Terminator Salvation out of the deal. The LA Times reports:
Anderson and Kubicek’s Halcyon Holding Group has engaged financial advisory firm FTI Capital Advisors, pending bankruptcy court approval, to “evaluate strategic alternatives,” according to a statement. Since Halcyon’s only valuable asset is the Terminator rights, any deal would involve an investment in, or outright sale, of them.
In a statement released by FTI Capital Advisors, Kevin Shultz the Senior Managing Director of FTI stated:
We’re going to be contacting a variety of studios and independent companies. We think the values are considerably in excess of the purchase price.
Anderson and Kubicek claim that the Terminator franchise rights are worth more than $60 million dollars following the success of the fourth film in the series. That’s a rise in value of over 200%..!
It’s not the first time that the Terminator rights have been sold off, in fact the franchise has a chequered past:
At the time of the first Terminator film, Hemdale Film Corp. owned a 50% interest and director James Cameron sold the other half to producing partner and future wife Gale Anne Hurd for $1. Carolco Pictures, owned by producers Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna, bought Hemdale’s stake in 1990 for $10 million and released Terminator 2: Judgment Day the next year.
In 1997, after Carolco went bankrupt, they started a new venture, C2 Pictures, which bought their old company’s stake at auction for $8 million and the remaining 50% from Hurd for $7 million. Then in 2007, Kassar and Vajna sold the rights to producers Anderson and Kubicek.
