It was only yesterday that we reported a new Terminator movie had been announced; a 3D animated picture titled Terminator 3000, that was to be produced by Hannover House and Red Bear Entertainment, and planned on toning down the film’s violence in order to achieve a PG-13 rating and be more child friendly; but there has already been developments that could put the future of the animated movie in jeopardy.
Those developments came in the form of a cease and desist letter that was sent to Hannover’s CEO; Eric Parkinson; by Pacificor; the company that holds the franchise rights; as they recently won the rights to The Terminator series in an auction, and don’t want any potentially harming sequels, adaptations, or spin-offs, being developed without their consent.
Parkinson however claims that he personally holds certain proprietary rights, that grant him the freedom to create an animated Terminator feature should he so choose; rights that were originally held by Hemdale Home Video (the company that produced and helped distribute the first Terminator movie), and were excluded from the deal that saw the franchise rights change hands, and were actually granted to him personally as part of his settlement package when he left Hemdale.
Nevertheless, the cease and desist letter has Parkinson worried; and it’s as a result of receiving the letter that he’s requested a meeting with Pacificor, to discuss possible rights payments, and see if a deal can be made so that he can produce the 70 million dollar film that has so far had no official story ideas confirmed, other than the fact it will focus on the same characters introduced in James Cameron’s (Avatar) first Terminator.
Parkinson already has backers in place to help him make the film; a film which he believes revolves around “a good idea”; and is glad that’s he’s managed to get a meeting in place; a meeting that he hopes will put him in the position to issue a follow-up statement next week, stating that Hannover House and Pacificor are “holding hands” because the alternative outcome is that they will “not be doing the film.”
