While the rights to live action Terminator films still being tossed around like the gift in a game of Pass the Parcel and seemingly no closer to someone actually making a new movie, the time was right for someone to sneak in and come up with… a cartoon version?
It’s true: a company called Hannover House lobbied Terminator rights holders Pacificor to allow it tostart developing a $70-million 3D animated movie revolving around Sarah Connor, Kyle Reese and Cyborg Arnie himself called Terminator 3000. You won’t be surprised to learn that Hannover CEO Eric Parkinson used to run Hemdale Home Video, part of the company that distributed James Cameron’s original outing.
With Red Bear Entertainment on board to help produce the thing, the companies sent out a press release stating that they want to minimize violence to make sure they get a PG-13 rating. Because that worked out so well for McG in terms of endearing him to the Terminator faithful.
Little else is known about the project, and certainly not what story they intend to tell. Why don’t they just go the whole hog and insert a scene at the end where the Terminator teaches some kids a lesson in responsible computer ownership, complete with cheesy cyborg animal sidekick and a joke at the end where everyone laughs?
Okay, pushing down the cynical bile for a second, perhaps the future of the franchise is in animation – you can certainly portray the war against the machines with more scope in the medium. We’re still not convinced, but we’ll be watching to see what develops on this one.
Meanwhile, that sound you hear is James Cameron spending a tiny fraction of his Avatar earnings to buy himself a grave to start spinning in during his free time.
Update! Looks like things weren't as clear or as sorted as Hannover House thought: Pacificor sent them a cease and desist letter claiming that they didn't have the correct rights and must not go ahead withTerminator 3000.
Now, according to Deadline, Parkinson is setting a meeting with them to argue his proprietary rights case: "We've arranged a meeting, we'll show them our money and if the rational brain prevails, they'll take the deal. If not, I can't do it without them. I hope they will can think outside the box, because if we can make a movie that delivers a $20 million to $30 million rights payment, that is an income source they didn't realize was possible. If not, it was a good idea anyway." This one will keep bubbling...