In the late 1970s the American Congress amended a law which would allow authors to reclaim their original works from studios as long as the authors waited thirty-five years – a legality which mirrors James Cameron regaining his rights to the Terminator franchise; as he was the beneficiary of changes in copyright law. Meaning that the North American rights to the franchise reverted back to Jim in 2019.
The amendment allows The Terminator (1984) co-writer and producer, legend Gale Anne Hurd, the ability to terminate the copyright grant made thirty-five years ago…
The Hollywood Reporter stated:
“Gale Anne Hurd, the original’s writer, has moved to terminate a copyright grant made 35 years ago, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. As a result, per records filed at the U.S. Copyright Office, David Ellison’s Skydance Media — which acquired the rights from his sister, Megan Ellison, who bought them for $20 million in 2011 at an auction — could lose rights to make Terminator movies starting in November 2020.”
The Hollywood Reporter
Gale isn’t the only writer to take action against studios over their copyright, according to THR – the amendment’s ticking clock has caused many creators to seek legal action; Friday the 13th writer Victor Miller, Stephen King with Pet Sematary, Roderick Thorp with Nothing Lasts Forever AKA Die Hard, Michael McDowell’s heirs with Beetlejuice, Gary K. Wolf with Who Framed Roger Rabbit, also up for copyright termination are Predator and Nightmare on Elm Street.
The rights situation looks like it could be rather tricky for Skydance (and, by extension, Paramount) going forward, which could lead to serious negotiations with Gale Anne Hurd if they wish to continue on with the property and any potential sequels to T:DF.
THR says:
“A source explains that Hurd will have a 50-50 ownership split with James Cameron, the original director who is returning to produce Skydance’s Dark Fate. If Skydance wants another film, it’ll have to renegotiate backend with the two. (Hurd had no comment. Skydance had no comment and another source argued that Hurd had little legal claim on the rights.) Otherwise, another studio will have the opportunity to move forward with the franchise. “
The Hollywood Reporter
We at TheTerminatorFans.com stand behind whatever decision Gale Anne Hurd chooses to take.
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28 Comments
Wow, you stand behind her. You really hate James Cameron and what he’s doing now.
And you exactly know she’s not a writer at all.
Shame on you.
We do not hate James Cameron. We do not hate Dark Fate. Gale Anne Hurd did co-write AND produce The Terminator (1984). We support Gale just as much as we support James Cameron and William Wisher.
Without Gale, Jim and William there would be no Terminator franchise.
Come on, guys, be serious. She’s done a tremendous job on the set of The Terminator and Aliens, but she’s no writer.
It’s about time the adult entered the room. Cameron has prostituted himself in the hope for future favor by Ellison, the Oracle heir. I have no respect for Cameron anymore. He didn’t even have the esteem to go on set and push his weight about. He’s got Avatar sequels to sell. Hurd, who is a co-writer of the original film, is one person who understands that repeating the time travel story is ridiculous. I beg to Molech she moves foward with a future war (purple lasers) film.
Or you know, lays this shambling zombie of franchise to a final rest, the saga has been mocked and mutilated enough.
Besides that you act like a jerk, yeah… I don’t like Avatar, and I’m pissed off Cameron wasted his last 22 years (probably his prime years), with more to come. But I’m eternally grateful for The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, T2, True Lies and Titanic. And he can do with his life whatever he wants. And he can do with the Terminator franchise whatever he wants.
A so called Termiantor fan who doesn’t know Gale Anne Hurd did not write a single word in the screenplay.
Gale Anne Hurd received a writing credit, she suggested major edits to the story which made it into the final cut. This we know.
She’s got a writing credit, because Cameron sold the script to her for one dollar with a promise only he could direct the movie. William Wisher had much bigger influence on the script.
You’re saying that Gale bought a writing credit? The WGA states that:
“Writing credit is given for authorship of the work the
audience sees on screen, including plot, characters, dialogue, scenes and all other elements
that comprise our work.” And… “The credits process seeks to ensure that writers who make the most significant contributions to
a screenplay are acknowledged on screen.”
Yes, that’s what I’m saying.
Funny, it’s her only ‘writing’ credit. She’s one hell of a producer, but… Well, nevermind, the argument is pointless.
She can sabotage Cameron’s plans, many will be happy. 😉
If she sabotages the Cameron’s Dark Fate trilogy, where they kill off John Connor so unceremoniously, then yes. Cameron deserves to get sabotaged.
James Cameron gave him life, and James Cameron can take it away.
I think having to wait 35 yearrrrrrrssss to do a movie is like holding a dodo turd in and knowing you need to take a crap! Make movies and release them.
Many writers/creators had no idea about their ability to regain ownership/part ownership of their creation until Friday The 13th writer, Victor Miller, filed a lawsuit (after 35 years as stipulated by the American Congress in their amendment) to reclaim his rights – something he did sometime around 2016 (ish).
Après tout c’est elle qui a aussi lancé cette saga emblematique et c’est tout à fait normal qu’elle récupère une parti de ses droits ! de plus ce sera pas plus mal de changer de studio car Skydance et paramount on a vu ce que celà a donné depuis Genisys donc avel elle et cameron on peu récuperer un meilleurs studio pour les années a venir et laisser cette saga ce reposer ! Même si Dark Fate à l’air plutôt bon !
Gale Anne Hurd is now the main enemy against terminator franchise!!!! If she’s gonna do it ,then I WILL CURSE HER FOR THAT!!!!!
Please refrain from cursing Gale Anne Hurd.
Gale-Ann Hurd is not the enemy of the Terminator franchise, James Cameron is. It was his idea to kill of John Connor so cheaply in the first five minutes of Dark Fate. It’s a disgrace.
I still don’t understand why they can’t just 100% remake/reboot the terminator series from scratch (they half-assed it in Genisys), instead of crapping on the Connors and Kyle, why not just restart the whole thing and invent new characters ? leave the old characters alone, they are done.
Disgraceful are people like you. You hate this movie since the very beginning, since you saw one single picture. Three female leads, what a nightmare.
After you realized, how misogynistic, racist and homophobic you sound with terms like ‘LGBT-1000’ or ‘T-Juan’, you’ve changed the tactic. Now you whine about the absence of John Connor or CGI.
I haven’t seen Terminator Genesis and probably never will. I hate superhero movies, so I don’t watch them and don’t care about them. But I never whine about them and I don’t ruin others’ fun and pleasure.
I loved Aliens characters, but Alien 3 was great and I moved on. I can handle John Connor’s death, if the outcome will be good.
But people like you simply love to hate and you won’t stop. You even used a word ‘enemy’. Yes, for you it’s always a battle.
I don’t know why I even try to discuss with people like you.
Ahmm…..Slasher Mckagan i’m sorry was this post directed at me or TDark Bait ? or someone else here ? i’m just wondering if i shall answer the challenge/accusation call.
(btw i my hopes for film are actually high with all these new better trailers, the movie overall feels like a welcome return to the T1’s basics more or less with touch of T3ROTM’s better qualities/visual styles, plus the R-rating, so my butt is booked for the theaters to see it)
anyway here is my in-story thoughts/rationale of John Connor getting whacked and replaced by someone else in this one:
basically think of it like the whole T3ROTM/Salvation situation all over again where all the details of the Future War era (and the Judgement Day that starts it) getting altered except that we didn’t get a 7 year delay this time, we got a whooping 22+ year delay now and as the years go by, John Connor will be less and less relevant to the Future War conflict, the less and less he’s gonna be protected by “Fate”, Dark Fate seems to lean towards the idea that (just like T3ROTM before it) the rise of a hostile, anti-human A.I with sufficient infrastructure/access to start a genocidal war against humanity is………….inevitable, you can destroy something like Skynet how many times you want, humanity will continue the R&D on AI, in another decade or two, a new Legion will rise, no matter how much you delay it, the entirety of the human species will have to go through this rite of passage (by nuclear fire/robot apocalypse), so in a deeper reading of the context available, John Connor getting replaced makes sense.
Nope, Mike, I didn’t challenge you.
I agree with you, man, and to be honest… I don’t care that much about John Connor. He was always a myth. And in T2 he was an annoying spoiled little brat. 😉
Even Christian Bale couldn’t live up to that myth.
Like I said, they need excuses to hate this movie. It was their mission since day one.
I myself couldn’t be more excited. James Cameron and Linda Hamilton are back, the Grace character is so fascinating, and the Rev-9 is really something (the bastard has attitude). This movie will rock!
We hope that T:DF surpasses all expectations and removes all doubt / concerns but sweeping generalisations about anyone with concerns (whether you deem them legitimate or not) aren’t really helpful. People have opinions – just as you do, and they are entitled – just as you are, to express them.
By ‘they’, I didn’t mean you, The Terminator Fans. You do a great job in here and I do really appreciate your efforts.
I was referring to haters like Dark Bait and hundreds of others you can find on YouTube or Twitter. That’s why I avoid such places, I’m so tired of those toxic people.
You, guys, are real Terminator fans. I don’t agree with you in some cases, but I do really respect you.
Dark Fate won’t be, for sure, as brilliant as T1 or T2, but, trust me, it’ll be really good. 😉
We didn’t believe you were talking about us. We appreciate that fans get heated in discussion – there is no neutrality in fandom. Many fans (even fans who are deemed ‘negative’) are simply anxious and hoping for the best, hoping to be proven wrong.
The original writer and creator is actually Sophia Stewart: https://twitter.com/Sophia_Stewart
let her do it this will make me happy as I despise the last two
one thing I admire about Gale Anne Hurd is that she has more guts to do what’s necessary
hire me to direct as long as Skydance is not involved I can make a much better trilogy hire me to do it
if Gale Anne Hurd is doing the right thing by dismembering Skydance’s hold over the rights and takes it back I would be happy
matter of fact hire me to direct I can make a much better trilogy as long as Skydance isn’t involved hire me to direct