Upon hearing that bankrupt Halcyon Pictures was being forced to liquidate its rights to the Terminator franchise, Joss Whedon immediately planted his tongue firmly in cheek and offered $10,000 for the cyborg’s movie rights.  In a consistently hilarious epistle that is reprinted in its entirety in The Hollywood Reporter, Whedon ticked off some of the plans he had for the property:

“1) Terminator... of the Rings! Yeah, what if he time-travelled TOO far... back to when there was dragons and wizards? (I think it was the Dark Ages.) Hasta La Vista, Boramir! Cool, huh? "Now you gonna be Gandalf the Red!" RRRRIP! But then he totally helps, because he's a cyborg and he doesn't give a s#&% about the ring -- it has no power over him! And he can carry it AND Frodo AND Sam AND f@%& up some orcs while he's doing it. This stuff just comes to me. I mean it. (I will also offer $10,000 for the Lord of the Rings franchise).

2) More Glau. Hey. There's a reason they're called "Summer" movies.

3) Can you say... musical? Well don't. Even I know that's an awful idea.

4) Christian Bale's John Connor will get a throat lozenge. This will also help his Batwork (ten grand for that franchise too, btw.)”

As Whedon so aptly put it, the Terminator franchise is not washed up, it “has only begun to plumb the depths of questioning the human condition during awesome stunts.”