Carl Icahn is now offering 50 cents on the dollar for MGM debt in an attempt to bolster his position before creditors vote Friday on a reorganization plan that puts Spyglass partners Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber in the driver’s seat of the debt-hobbled studio. Icahn had previously been offering 45 cents on the dollar for debt, and the new offer comes with the stipulation that debt holders vote against the Spyglass offer. Lionsgate brass recently came out with an impassioned speech on why a Lionsgate-Icahn deal was better for creditors than the Spyglass plan which is half a year in the making. Considering how bitter the battle has been between Icahn and Lionsgate brass as he’s tried to take over the minimajor, doesn’t it sound like that couple you know, the one that is fighting constantly and decides that if they just went ahead and had a baby, everything would be perfect? MGM, which watched Mary Parent exit as its pic chief after she was stymied in her efforts to create a production slate for the Lion, needs a steady hand and many feel that the Spyglass guys would provide it. The prepackaged bankruptcy with Birnbaum and Barber has never been viewed as a permanent solution. It has always been viewed by insiders as “kicking the can down the road.” Bolder plays with an outside suitor like Lionsgate is necessary later on, but it doesn’t necessarily have to happen by Friday.

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