The exclusive window for Sony and Lionsgate to negotiate a deal to make the next Terminator movie has passed, according to Deadline Hollywood's sources. Now Pacificor, the hedge fund that beat Sony and Lionsgate in the Terminator rights auction, is throwing the door open to other studios to pitch their own ideas. Presumably the process will include studios that didn't muster the $16 million minimum to be in the final round of bidding on the actual movie rights. Pacificor has retained law-firm Latham & Watkins to manage the "numerous" inquiries it's already received from studios, producers, financiers and agents. Says the fund, "While Pacificor is not in the theatrical feature production business, it does have access to considerable industry expertise and will consult with those experts over the next few weeks regarding all serious proposals."
The fact that Sony and Lionsgate weren't able to come up with an offer that Pacificor was interested in, while they had the exclusive negotiating rights, suggests that this might be a more difficult process than we'd thought at first. Either Pacificor wants too rich a deal, or it's demanding too much creative input, or something else. Are you excited about the prospect of a Terminator movie made by a committee of lawyers, hedge-fund managers and wheeler-dealers? [Variety and Deadline Hollywood]