By UPDATED: Looks like it’s official, Annapurna Productions is now the rights holder for The Terminator franchise. /Film had the report this morning. This is nothing but good news people!
How many of you guys have heard of Megan Ellison? No one? That’s about what I expected. She, with her company Annapurna Productions, has been financing a bunch of indie projects that would have never gotten off the ground before. From the upcoming Charlie Kaufman/Spike Jonze satire (there’s no title yet), to Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master (which starts shooting in a few weeks), to Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmasters. If there’s a project that is of high concept that needs funding, Ellison is your gal. Now it’s being reported that she has her eyes set on the Terminator franchise, which changes hands every time a new movie is about to get announced.
But why would a high concept indie financier want to do a big dumb action movie? It’s pretty simple: it’s all about the Benjamin’s, baby. Think about it, if she gets the rights to do the next Terminator, she’s going to get a huge return on it, especially now that Arnie is coming back to the franchise. So really, why wouldn’t she want to do this? I really hope she gets the rights, if only because she’ll be able to finance even more awesome indies.
[via /Film]