If you're a fan of independent cinema, you might want to draft a thank you letter to Megan Ellison. Since February, Ellison's name has been mentioned alongside brilliant filmmakers like Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, John Hillcoat, Andrew Dominik, Paul Thomas Anderson and Kathryn Bigelow, her company, Annapurna Pictures, putting up big bucks so that they can continue doing what they do best. With Ellison's personal taste established, how great would it be to see her company take control of a franchise that has been adrift since 1992?

After winning the rights to The Terminator films back in February of last year, the hedge fund known as Pacificor has put the rights up for sale, the name profitable again as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Justin Lin are prepping to make Terminator 5. As of yesterday it looked as though Lionsgate was going to win the rights, but Annapurna Pictures has now put in a higher bid and the fight is on, according to Deadline. While there's no stiff figure attached to dealings, the bids are predicted to be approximately half of the $29.5 million that Pacificor paid for the rights last year.

No offense to Lionsgate intended, but I really hope that Ellison wins this battle. The woman obviously knows movies and seems to be generally interested in making qualities ones. Her willingness to buy film rights without distribution deals also proves that she's a risk taker that knows exactly what she wants. She may be the perfect person to get the Terminator movies back on the right path.