etempest, on 02 March 2011 - 15:12, said:
They went bankrupt, they talked to the people that they owe money and they allowed them to forgive there debt in exchange for stock, and this put them on there feet for the next james bond film.
If the next James Bond film tanks... they really will be bankrupt / out of business even before Robocop can happen.
No, it won't, even if that improbable outcome does occur. MGM was financially unsuccessful not because of its movie branch, but because of all the money losing branches of the company
not associated with its movie studio (think of its casino business, for instance). MGM is now being run by the guys that founded Spyglass, and what they're doing is partnering with other film studios on what they consider to be surefire hits in order to make money.
It works like this: partner with Sony to co-finance (and this is just an example) a Spider-Man or Men in Black movie. These movies have a built-in audience and represent an extremely low risk, given the monetary response from the box office. So, MGM will pay a small percentage (in comparison to what Sony will pay) of the financing, and make a percentage back off the movie's box office receipts. It will help MGM quickly turn around and gain financing. They've also been partnering on movie studios for their biggest franchises (Bond, The Hobbit) in order to get some financing burden taken off their own shoulders.