Lionsgate have become locked in a battle with an independent film producer for the rights to the Terminator franchise.
Deadline reports that Megan Ellison of Annapurna Films has outbid the company behind Kick Ass, Buried and the Saw movies for the right to make a fifth instalment of the sci-fi series.
Lionsgate had been favourites to claim the property outright before Ellison’s bid when they agreed to pay at least half of the $29.5m (£18.1m) spent by Paficior to win the Terminator rights in February 2010.
Ellison is currently funding production of Kathryn Bigelow’s Kill Bin Laden and Depression-era crime drama The Wettest County In The World, starring Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy.
Fast & Furious director Justin Lin and original star Arnold Schwarzenegger are both attached to Terminator 5, which is expected to reboot the franchise following the negative reception of 2009’s Terminator Salvation.