Corona | Coming Attractions

Variety has an interesting article today about who may get to make and release the fifth Terminator movie. While it's just speculation at the moment, the fact is that The Halcyon Company can't go ahead and make Terminator 5 without first offering the project to MGM, the reason being that the movie studio got the right of first refusal to fund and release sequels in the sci-fi franchise after picking up the assets of the bankrupt Orion Pictures. MGM passed on Terminator 3 and Terminator Salvation but with hype high for the fourth film the studio may not be so quick as to let the T5 opportunity slide by.

Variety speculates that MGM would have to pay upfront something around the neighborhood of $125 million dollars if one follows the $50 million Warner Bros paid for domestic distrubution and Sony Pictures $75 million for international distrib for Terminator Salvation. And don't forget that MGM would also have to buck up for the marketing of Terminator 5 which, if the film's budget is in the same ballpark as T4, will likely cost around $100 million dollars.