Deadline got the exclusive this morning when it was announced that bankrupt film studio Halycon, current owners of the Terminator franchise have this morning sold the rights to the franchise, to the investment company that they’re in debt to, but not before really pissing off Sony and Lionsgate.

If you’ve not been following the news about the Terminator franchise, here’s a quick recap…

The story goes that Halycon borrowed $30 million from hedge fund company Pacificor to purchase the rights back in 2007. Pacificor then forced Halycon into bankruptcy when it didn’t pay it’s debts. Thereby forcing Halycon to sell the rights to the Terminator franchise.

So this morning (or yesterday, sorry not very good with time zones) a marathon 5 hour bidding session began, with Sony and Lionsgate seperately bidding for the franchise, and then joining forces after the first round was completed.

Neither Sony or Lionsgate came out winners though, as Halycon accepted a bid of $29.5 million from none other than Pacificor, the creditor who pushed them into bankruptcy in the first place.

This prompted Sony‘s president of worldwide affairs Peter Schlessel to ‘storm out’ of the auction. No doubt because it was clear that Pacificor would pay almost anything for the franchise.

So that’s it for the moment. If Halycon get the sale approved by the bankruptcy court, then Pacificor will own the rights. In return, Halycon‘s debt to Pacificor will be written off, and they’ll receive $5 million for every Terminator film made from now on.

Why Halycon couldn’t have sorted their differences out with Pacificor before it got to auction is anybody’s guess. It’s not clear if Halycon are going to continue making Terminator films – with Pacificor funelling the profits off – from now on, or whether Pacificor will go on to sell the rights off to someone else now.

What’s your view on this? Do you think there’s any hope of us getting a decent Terminator film anytime soon? Or was this all just a big poker game?