Megan Ellison Wins the “Terminator” Sweepstakes

Megan Ellison has, in a very short time, gone from sneered-at fundie party-girl to being hailed as the "Indie Savior." And now she's just landed the rights to one of the biggest tent-pole franchises out there.

Ellison stands triumphant after a feverish bidding war with Lionsgate for the rights to make "Terminator 5," or whatever they end up calling it, reported Deadline. As part of the package, she gets the original Terminator--Arnold Schwarzenegger--and Justin Lin, director of the best action film of 2011, "Fast Five."

This is great news not just for Ellison, but for "Terminator" fans as well, because there is no way the heiress to the Oracle fortune will try to do the next installment on the cheap.

After a couple of false starts (cough--"Passion Play"--cough), Ellison helped deliver the Coen Brothers' brilliant "True Grit," and has gotten behind three hotly anticipated films: "The Wettest Country in the World," "Coogan's Trade" and "The Master."

Better still is the involvement of Lin, who made as good a movie as one could hope for considering the script and cast he had to work with on "Fast Five." The energy he brought to that film will translate perfectly to "The Terminator."

And Arnold's return is just gravy.

We were inclined to agree with James Cameron when he last year declared he was no longer interested in being a part of the Terminator's future because the "soups kinda been pissed in" by other filmmakers, but we have complete faith that Ellison and Lin can make the Terminator film our kids deserve..

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