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In Other News: Lionsgate/Icahn, Spidey’s Fall Guy, Judith Miller, James Franco And Ailing Borders

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday January 4, 2011 @ 6:48am PSTTags: Carl Icahn, Carl Icahn Lionsgate MGM Merger, Carl Icahn MGM, James Franco, Judith Miller, Julian Assange, Lionsgate, Lionsgate Carl Icahn, Lionsgate MGM, Mark Cuban, Michael Burns Carl Icahn, Movies, Spider-Man Musical Safety, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

The sharp elbowing between Lionsgate and Carl Icahn takes another turn in the courtroom. The Wall Street Journal reports that Lionsgate filed in court to force Icahn to disclose any confidential merger agreements he made with MGM. This continues Lionsgate’s assertion that Icahn was pushing for a merge between Lionsgate and MGM while lambasting Lionsgate management for exploring the same scenario. Lionsgate’s desire for transparency extended to an ask that Icahn fess up about a side deal he might have made with Mark Cuban to sell his stake. That info–which reportedly came from Girls Gone Wild kingpin Joe Francis–was refuted by Cuban, who told WSJ that if there was any questionable offer involved in the equation, it came when Lionsgate co-chairman Michael Burns made a third-party offer to buy his shares for more than whatever Icahn was willing to pay…

Christopher Tierney, the 31-year old actor/dancer who fell 30 feet and was badly hurt in a preview performance of Broadway’s Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, gave his first interview last night to Gotham’s WCBS-TV local news. Watch below as he describes an ordeal that included the following inventory of broken bones: 4 ribs, 3 vertebra, scapula, elbow, and the back of his head. It’s good to see Tierney moving around and even enthused about possibly returning to the show. But how’s that dancer’s body, full of screws and rods, going to feel when he’s pushing 50?  I am also hearing that the Twitter statements issued by Actors Equity head Nick Wyman are being viewed by members as too little, too late. The next few weeks will tell the tale for Spidey. The $1.8 million holiday week gross was impressive, but every show’s grosses spiked. The $65 million show definitely has an uphill battle ahead, one that will be made easier if the new safety measures incorporated after the shutdown keep the actors safe…

In her new gig at Fox News, former New York Times reporter Judith Miller got some shots in at WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that might have some wondering if it’s the pot calling the kettle black, based on her influential coverage of suspected weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Watch as she lays into Assange for not “verifying the information he was putting out or whether it was going to hurt anybody…”

Free-spirit James Franco, who aside from establishing himself in the Best Actor race with 127 Hours has done everything from acting in soap operas to directing shorts and indies to attending college classes, announced his plans to really focus on directing. He wants to helm two big pictures back to back, starting with an adaptation of William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. Deadline revealed that CAA just signed Franco when it brought over his longtime WME agent Kami Putnam-Heist. Did the agency see a budding director, or a possible Best Actor Oscar winner who could be a superstar by next summer, after he stars in this summer’s Planet of the Apes prequel Rise of the Apes? Agencies usually hate to see rising stars gamble momentum with time-consuming directing projects…

The signs continue to look ominous for the bookseller chain Borders. The company, which just declared it couldn’t pay certain publishers, disclosed to the SEC the exit of two key execs: exec veep Thomas Carney and chief information officer D. Scott Laverty.

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Carl Icahn Extends Lionsgate Share Offer

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday November 12, 2010 @ 12:59pm PSTTags: Carl Icahn, Carl Icahn Lionsgate, Carl Icahn Lionsgate Share Offer, Carl Icahn MGM, Carl Icahn MGM Debt, Carl Icahn Shares, Lionsgate, Lionsgate Finance, Lionsgate MGM, Lionsgate Stock, Lionsgate Tender Offer, Movies
Mike Fleming

Though Carl Icahn’s attempt to take control of Lionsgate was dealt a setback recently by a Supreme Court judge in British Columbia who dismissed Icahn’s lawsuit to stop a Lionsgate de-leveraging move that pushed his 38% stake down to 33.5%, … Read More »

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MGM Starts Pre-Packaged Chapter 11; Claims Carl Icahn Now Supports Plan

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday November 3, 2010 @ 7:48am PDTTags: Carl Icahn MGM, Gary Barber, MGM, MGM Chapter 11, MGM Finance, MGM Lenders, MGM Pre-packaged Chapt 11, MGM Restructuring, MGM Spyglass, Movies, Roger Birnbaum

LOS ANGELES, CA, November 3, 2010 – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (“MGM”) today announced that it and approximately 160 of its affiliates have filed Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”)

… Read More »

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Lionsgate Wins: Icahn Lawsuit Dismissed And Stake Drops From 38% To 33.5%

By NIKKI FINKE AND MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday November 1, 2010 @ 11:09am PDTTags: Carl Icahn, Carl Icahn Lionsgate Lawsuit, Carl Icahn Lionsgate MGM Merger, Carl Icahn MGM, Carl Icahn Proxy Fight, Lionsgate, Mark Rachesky, MGM Restructuring, Movies

BREAKING: In the latest development in Carl Icahn’s attempt to take over Lionsgate and merge its assets with MGM, a Supreme Court judge in British Columbia has dismissed Icahn’s lawsuit to thwart a Lionsgate de-leveraging move on July 20 that took $100 million in debt off the books and converted … Read More »

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BACK ON ITS FEET? MGM Creditors Crown Spyglass Partners New Chiefs

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday October 29, 2010 @ 3:31pm PDTTags: Carl Icahn MGM, Gary Barber, James Bond Distribution, MGM, MGM Bankruptcy, MGM Creditor Voting, MGM Creditors, MGM Debt, MGM Distribution, MGM Restructuring, MGM Spyglass, Movies, Roger Birnbaum
Mike Fleming

2ND UPDATE: MGM has just issued this statement about the results of the creditor voting:

“Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (‘MGM’) today announced that the secured lenders voting in the Company’s solicitation process have overwhelmingly approved its proposed plan of reorganization (‘Plan’). MGM will now move expeditiously to implement that Plan, which will dramatically reduce its debt load and put the Company in a strong position to execute its business strategy. MGM is appreciative of the lenders’ support.”

UPDATE: The creditors have now officially approved the restructuring plan that puts the Spyglass chiefs atop MGM and gets the studio moving again. A statement will be released momentarily. Now, the fun begins. If MGM isn’t a distributor, the next installment of James Bond will be a jump ball. Expect Sony (which distributed Casino Royale to battle it out with Warner Bros and Fox, but watch Paramount emerge in the thick of it because of the close relationship that the studio has developed with Spyglass since that company became co-financier of Star Trek and the followup that is in the works. Read More »

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Icahn Makes Offer To Buy More MGM Debt To Expedite Merger

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday October 21, 2010 @ 12:42pm PDTTags: Carl Icahn, Carl Icahn Lionsgate MGM Merger, Carl Icahn MGM, Carl Icahn Shares, Gary Barber, Lionsgate Carl Icahn, Lionsgate MGM Merger, MGM Bankruptcy, MGM Creditors, MGM Debt, MGM Finance, MGM Spyglass, Movies, Roger Birnbaum, Spyglass

Calling the proposed Spyglass plan a “presciption for disaster,” Carl Icahn on Thursday offered to buy another $963 million of MGM’s debt. He already owns around $500 million of it, so the sum would make him one of MGM’s largest … Read More »

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Lionsgate, Carl Icahn Set Sights On MGM

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday October 12, 2010 @ 6:59am PDTTags: Carl Icahn, Carl Icahn Lionsgate, Carl Icahn Lionsgate Lawsuit, Carl Icahn Lionsgate MGM Merger, Carl Icahn MGM, Gary Barber, Lionsgate, Lionsgate MGM Merger, Mark Rachesky, MGM Spyglass, Movies, Roger Birnbaum

Below is Carl Icahn’s statement from this morning expressing his support for a proposed Lionsgate/MGM merger. Late Monday, Lionsgate sent a proposal to MGM expressing support of a ”business combination” after what it called “detailed” discussions with Icahn. All of this after rebuffing Icahn’s attempts for so long. This latest development comes just days after … Read More »

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