Sony's joined Lionsgate in the bidding on the rights to the "Terminator" franchise.
The studio had no comment but a source close to the bidding confirmed that Sony submitted a bid Thursday, the final day for submitting offers.
Lionsgate stepped up last month as the first bidder for the rights to the "Terminator" franchise with a "stalking horse" or floor bid of $15 million and a 5% cut of future gross receipts.
Halcyon Group put the franchise up for sale in September-. The auction for the "Terminator" assets -- which include the rights to future "Terminator" pics, TV series, DVDs and merchandise -- will be held Monday at the offices of FTI Consulting in Los Angeles, followed by a bankruptcy court hearing two days later.
If Lionsgate doesn't win the auction, it will receive $750,000 as a breakup fee from the winning bidder.
"Terminator Salvation," the fourth film in the franchise, was produced by Halcyon with Warner Bros. handling domestic distribution and Sony taking international. It carried a production pricetag of about $200 million and took in $371 million worldwide.
Halcyon paid Mario Kassar $30 million for the "Terminator" rights in 2007, then filed for Chapter 11 as a result of a dispute with hedge fund Pacificor, which financed the purchase. At that point, Halcyon toppers Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek told the bankruptcy court that they valued the "Terminator" franchise above $70 million.
Contact Dave McNary at
dave.mcnary@variety.com