Yesterday, we reported that the rights to the Terminator movies were going up for grabs at auction with every major Hollywood studio reported to have lodged an interest in snapping them up. Given the state of the Terminator franchise contrasted against its heyday, you might be wondering quite what all the fuss is about. And in Joss Whedon, you may have just found someone to align with.

Whedon has written a spectacularly good open letter to the owners of the Terminator franchise, making his (spoof) pitch to buy the rights. It's gone up over at Deadline Hollywood, and in his letter, Whedon - who introduces himself as "the mastermind behind Titan A.E., Parenthood (not the movie) (or the new series) (or the one where 'hood' was capitalized 'cause it was a pun), and myriad other legendary tales" - puts his offer right on the table. "I am prepared to make a pre-emptive bid RIGHT NOW to wrap this dealio up," he writes. "This is not a joke, this is not a scam, this is not available on TV. I will write a check TODAY for $10,000, and viola! Terminator off your hands."

But what would he do with it, you might ask? Noting the Deadline Hollywood's Nikki Finke has argued that the Terminator franchise is pretty much done, Whedon responds by offering some suggestions as to what he'd do with the franchise if he got his hands on it:

"1) Terminator... of the Rings! ... 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."

Or what about:

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

For fans of the Batman movies:

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

And then there's...

"5) More porn. John Connor never told Kyle Reese this, but his main objective in going to the past was to get some. What if there's a lot of future-babies that have to be made? Cue wah-wah pedal guitar -- and dollar signs!"

As Whedon notes in his concluding paragraph, "I really believe the Terminator franchise has only begun to plumb the depths of questioning the human condition during awesome stunts, and I'd like to shepherd it through the next phase. The money is there, but more importantly, the heart is there. But more importantly, money."

You can read the full letter here, and we right here, right now, top Mr Whedon's offer by bidding $10,001 for the series now. Will Joss be getting into a bidding war with us, we wonder?