Execs at privately held MGM won’t be able to play their cards so close to the vest after the James Bond film Skyfall and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey helped to push company revenues for 2012 past $1B. (It ended up with $1.38B). That’s an SEC threshold that will require MGM to publicly disclose registration information it now can keep confidential, CEO Gary Barber told investors in a conference call. Might this make MGM more likely to go public, something it said last year that it’s considering? Barber punted: “We’re coming off of a banner year” which “gives us great options for the future…We look forward to exploring all of those options. Beyond that I cannot comment further.” The CEO also had little to add about Skyfall director Sam Mendes’ decision not to take on the next Bond film. “He decided to pursue other interests at this time,” Barber said, promising to announce a new director “soon.” The screenplay is being developed now and while there’s no timetable the CEO hopes it will be released within three years. With Skyfall and Hobbit working their way through the distribution pipeline, and other films coming including The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, MGM forecasts that this year’s revenue and cash flow will be close to last year’s. That “would be remarkable,” CFO Dene Stratton says.


Jon Glickman has been steering this ship to profitability. Great job Jon. You have turned around a sicking ship. Outhouse to Penthouse.
I wonder if I’ll live to see another studio lot erected…i guess Tyler Perry Studios counts but it mostly caters to his productions…how long can WB, Paramount, Sony and Disney keep running things with their old, rusty, dusty sound stages brimming with dust mites and ghosts.
Curious as to why the smaller studios without dont come together to buy up some property…a lot financed by MGM, Weinstein, Relativity…hmmm, who the hell am i kidding…these egos would kill each other before the ground is broken probably.
This ship steers itself. My 5 year old can green light Bond and take credit for Hobbit. Gary cut jobs and some luck isn’t bad.
No timetable yet? No wonder Sam Mendes walked out, who wants to put another 2 or 3 years into studio bureaucracy bs like last time?