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MGM Will Have To Disclose Additional Info Following 2012 Film Successes

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday March 19, 2013 @ 4:06pm PDTTags: MGM, MGM Finance

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.

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MGM Swings To Q4 Profit With Help From ‘Skyfall’ And ‘The Hobbit’

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Monday March 18, 2013 @ 12:06pm PDTTags: MGM, MGM Finance

MGMWhen you look at the numbers for the end of 2011 and 2012, you’d almost think they’re from two different companies. In the last three months of 2012 MGM generated net income of $40.2M, up from an $11.3M … Read More »

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MGM Affirms Buyback Of Icahn Stake, Looks Forward To “Possible IPO”

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday August 15, 2012 @ 4:04pm PDTTags: MGM Finance

It’s a good thing the company has the films ahead of it because the Q2 results out today wouldn’t impress many investors if the company proceeds with its recently announced IPO plan. MGM had nothing to say … Read More »

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MGM Takes A Loss On ‘Dragon Tattoo’ And Seeks Better Terms For Sequels

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday March 22, 2012 @ 2:21pm PDTTags: 21 Jump Street, Gary Barber, MGM, MGM Finance, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

If you think that The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was a hit, then talk to MGM Holdings CEO Gary Barber. His company co-financed the film, and although it has generated about $231M at worldwide box offices he tells investors who own MGM’s unlisted shares that “it is below our expectations and we booked a modest loss.” The company wouldn’t say how much it wrote down, but Barber notes that execs ”were hoping we’d do 10% more than we did.” MGM has an option to co-finance the other two films in the trilogy and is talking to Sony about following through “assuming we can achieve better economics.” He was much more upbeat about the early performance of 21 Jump Street, which MGM also co-financed. “We expect it to be profitable,” Barber says. He adds that ”MGM has entered 2012 as a revitalized company.” He declined to describe MGM’s strategy but says it is “evaluating all options.” Read More »

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MGM Restructure Complete: Spyglass’ Duo Roger Birnbaum And Gary Barber Take Reins With $500 Million To Spend

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday December 20, 2010 @ 2:19pm PSTTags: Gary Barber, MGM Bankruptcy, MGM Finance, MGM Pre-packaged Chapt 11, MGM Restructuring, Movies, Roger Birnbaum

LOS ANGELES, CA, December 20, 2010 – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. today announced that the company’s restructuring has become effective, with exit financing of $500 million in place. The company’s “pre-packaged” plan of reorganization (the “Plan”) was confirmed on December 2,

… Read More »

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Breaking: MGM Gets Bankruptcy Court Okay

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday December 2, 2010 @ 10:06am PSTTags: MGM, MGM Bankruptcy, MGM Bankruptcy Court, MGM Finance, MGM Pre-packaged Chapt 11, MGM Restructuring
Mike Fleming

LOS ANGELES, CA, December 2, 2010 – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (“MGM”) today announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”) has approved the company’s “pre-packaged” plan of reorganization (the “Plan”), clearing the way

… 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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Carl Icahn and Lionsgate Redouble Efforts To Buy Up MGM Debt To Thwart Spyglass

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday October 27, 2010 @ 5:55pm PDTTags: Carl Icahn, Carl Icahn Lionsgate MGM Merger, Gary Barber, Lionsgate MGM Merger, MGM, MGM Creditors, MGM Debt, MGM Finance, MGM Restructuring, Movies, Roger Birnbaum
Mike Fleming

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 … 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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Mary Parent Is Officially Out At MGM; Studio’s Lenders Given More Time To Review Spyglass Info

By NIKKI FINKE AND MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday October 15, 2010 @ 3:50pm PDTTags: Lionsgate MGM Merger, Mary Parent, Mary Parent MGM, MGM Bankruptcy, MGM Debt, MGM Finance, MGM Forbearance Period, MGM Restructuring, MGM Spyglass, Movies

BREAKING NEWS… UPDATE: She has signed a non-disclosure agreement and therefore can’t talk publicly to the media. But, making no secret that she was negotiating her exit from MGM after taking the job in April 2008, Mary Parent this afternoon is now officially out at the studio where she was Chairman of the Motion Picture Group and Co-CEO. It’s a sad ending to Parent’s struggle to revive the debt-ridden cash-strapped studio and get it producing and distributing movies again against huge odds. That she was able to accomplish anything at all, even a few releases and co-productions, is testament to her professionalism and personality. Hollywood needs to salute her.

Parent and her staff, meanwhile, has had to go into the Century City offices every day for months and basically do nothing. “A really good group of people came in here to sit on the bench in their prime. What wasted capabilities and wasted potential,” she has told pals. In private conversations with Hollywood, she called it “a perfect storm against us” of events that sank her management team. She’ll probably catch her breath before thinking about another job. (The offers are just coming in now.) In the end, she like everybody else puts all the responsibility for the studio’s demise on Harry Sloan and his inability to tell the truth. ”In a weird way, it’s like coming off a bad relationship,” she told a friend Friday. “I married the wrong guy and woke up pregnant.” (see below for more) Read More »

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MGM Crowns Spyglass Partners Gary Barber And Roger Birnbaum New CEOs

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday October 7, 2010 @ 2:25pm PDTTags: Gary Barber, MGM, MGM Chapter 11, MGM Distribution, MGM Finance, MGM Gary Barber, MGM James Bond, MGM Marketing and Distribution, MGM Restructuring, MGM Roger Birnbaum, Movie Deals, Movies, Roger Birnbaum
Mike Fleming

2ND UPDATE: MGM has just confirmed Deadline’s report that it has formally named Spyglass partners Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum its new chairmen/CEOs, and the studio has just issued a press release describing its reorganization effort. It appears … Read More »

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Latest Twist In MGM Saga Unfolds In India?

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday September 20, 2010 @ 6:17am PDTTags: MGM, MGM Bankruptcy, MGM Debt, MGM Finance, MGM Sale, Sahara India Pariwar, Sahara India Pariwar MGM, Studios
Mike Fleming

Indian conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar is reported to be in exploratory talks to buy the debt-hobbled MGM studio for $2 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Bloomberg adds that the Broccoli family, owners of the James Bond … Read More »

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Bloomberg: MGM Creditors To Vote On Pre-Packaged Bankruptcy Plan This Month

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday September 10, 2010 @ 4:51pm PDTTags: Gary Barber, MGM Creditors, MGM Debt, MGM Finance, MGM Restructuring, MGM Spyglass, Roger Birnbaum, Spyglass
Nellie Andreeva

MGM creditors will be asked to approve a restructuring and pre-packaged bankruptcy plan for the studio within the next week or two, Bloomberg reports. This follows Spyglass chiefs Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber’s signing non-binding letters of intent on … Read More »

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Spyglass Partners Inch Closer To MGM Reins; Battle Royals Looms For James Bond Distribution Rights

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday September 8, 2010 @ 12:17pm PDTTags: Gary Barber, Ken Schapiro, MGM Debt, MGM Distribution, MGM Finance, MGM Spyglass, Roger Birnbaum, Spyglass, Star Trek Sequel, The Hobbit MGM
Mike Fleming

As expected, the MGM ownership situation is getting closer to being sorted, and it won’t be long before the Lion has a chance to roar again. Or at least emerge from its cage. Spyglass chiefs Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber … Read More »

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STIRRED, NOT SHAKEN: Sam Mendes & Daniel Craig Will Wait For James Bond

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday July 8, 2010 @ 5:06am PDTTags: 007, Cowboys & Aliens, Daniel Craig, Eon Productions, James Bond, James Bond Franchise, MGM, MGM Finance, MGM James Bond, MGM Restructuring, Sam Mendes, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Mike Fleming

james_bond1Reading these obits on James Bond, I think reports of 007′s motion picture demise because of MGM’s near-bankruptcy have been greatly exaggerated. Despite an article out of the UK that spread virally, insiders insist nothing tangible has happened. While Sony, Fox, and Warner … Read More »

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Spyglass Beating Summit To Run MGM?

By NIKKI FINKE AND MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday June 21, 2010 @ 6:39pm PDTTags: Gary Barber, James Bond Franchise, MGM, MGM Finance, MGM Restructuring, Peter Chernin, Roger Birnbaum, Spyglass, Summit Entertainment, Time Warner, Wall Street Journal

MgmlogosmallFor weeks now, we have been hearing from our various sources at studios, agencies and production companies that Spyglass Entertainment is in the lead to run a restructured MGM despite Summit Entertainment also being very much in the mix. But it’s been … Read More »

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