Derek Anderson & Victor Kubicek

Halcyon duo nabbed 'Terminator' franchise rights

By TATIANA SIEGEL

Halcyon founders Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek hail from a world light years away from Hollywood. But the showbiz outsiders -- a former ad exec and a banker, respectively -- obtained the ultimate calling card when they acquired rights to the "Terminator" franchise last year.

At the time, few knew that the coveted sci-fi brand was on the market. But the pair heard about the opportunity through a friend and quickly made an offer to previous owners C2 that was binding but only on the table for one day.

"It didn't take us more than a few minutes to decide that we should go for it," recalls Kubicek, who launched Halcyon with Anderson three years ago with the aim of acquiring culturally relevant and iconic intellectual property. "We really thought there was something you could do with this franchise and it can be rebooted. The continuation of the mythology is there. There is so much left of the story to tell. Luckily, we were able to get it quite under the radar."

Adds Anderson, "By the time we closed, there were a lot of interested buyers, but it was already too late for them."

Owning one of the most fan-friendly properties in showbiz has opened many doors in Tinseltown. Kubicek says an "avalanche" of interest followed, with directors and actors approaching the newcomers.

Within months, a fourth "Terminator" was in pre-production, McG was onboard to helm, and Batman himself, Christian Bale, had signed on for three pictures. While Anderson and Kubicek both insist that the planets aligned perfectly to bring John Connor into their universe, McG would argue otherwise. "I don't think it had anything to do with luck. They had the wisdom to do it," says McG from the New Mexico set of "Terminator Salvation," which Warner Bros. will release on May 22.

Ever the hands-on duo, Anderson and Kubicek have decided to self-publish a "Salvation" vidgame through their Halcyon Games division.

And rather than resting on their "Terminator" laurels, the pair swooped in late last year and inked a splashy first-look deal for most of the works penned by the late sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick. That gave Halcyon bigscreen, smallscreen and ancillary rights to 125 short stories and 46 novels, including McG fave "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" -- the basis for "Blade Runner."

"I would love to work with them again," McG notes near the end of the 77-day shoot. "I made 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' required reading on the set. So, yeah, that would be a good one."

BACKSTORY

AGES: Anderson: 40, Kubicek: 27

Provenance: Anderson was born in Ohio but lived most of his life in New York; Kubicek hails from Miami

Inspiration: "We have really eclectic taste in films, but 'Terminator' was always a favorite for both of us," says Anderson.

Web: thehalcyoncompany.com

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