Ringer Tim alerts us to an update on Deadline that confirms Spyglass partners Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum are now officially…
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Ringer Tim alerts us to an update on Deadline that confirms Spyglass partners Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum are now officially MGM’s new chairmen and CEO’s. In addition, there is an MGM press release attached to the blog reviewing the reorganization efforts.
Stay tuned to TORN for any breaking news as updates continue to come out. One more step towards an expected announcement (and not-so-unexpected party among TORN members) regarding an official green light for The Hobbit!
Gordon Campbell with Scoop.co.nz has weighed in on recent events concerning what he phrases as the end game for The Hobbit. He states the actors boycott is really just a “sideshow” and what matters is “the production incentives available in New Zealand compared to elsewhere in the world” as well as “the late intrusion of the 74 year old corporate raider Carl Icahn into the sale of debt-burdened MGM, which owns a major stake in The Hobbit project.”
You can read the entire article here.
The LA Times is reporting news we’ve all been waiting to hear: “The Hobbit” is finally close, maybe just days away, from getting a greenlight!
“The studios have nearly finalized a deal with director, producer and co-writer Peter Jackson to make the two movies and have resolved most other key issues that have long held up the project, including those related to underlying rights from the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien. The one remaining hurdle is getting an official go-ahead from MGM, which is set to co-finance the movies because under a long-standing agreement it owns half the rights and controls international distribution.”
The story goes on to report that recent issues with various actors’ unions are also close to being resolved. An imminent green light would pave the way for filming to begin in January, keeping the targeted opening date of December, 2012 for the first movie doable. Interestingly, the story lists Peter Jackson as director, something that has yet to be confirmed. Stay tuned here for more on that, and the impending green light! … (Read More)
Last week it was reported a two billion dollar offer from Indian conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar was rejected by MGM. But now an article in Businessweek says the offer is being reconsidered by creditors.
Additionally, Sahara has chosen an investment bank in the United States to provide representation, according to Sahara spokeswoman Marcy DePina. She also stated that “part of the quick rejection had to do with Sahara submitting documentation of its assets in rupees”
You can read the entire article here.
New Line, Warner Bros. and MGM have issued a combined statement regarding the current ‘Hobbit’ headlines:
New Line, Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures are concerned by the recent allegations of unfair treatment of actors in New Zealand and instructions from the performers’ guilds to their membership to withhold services from the producers of “The Hobbit” in New Zealand. We are proud to have good relations with all of those performers’ guilds and value their contribution to the motion pictures produced in their respective jurisdictions throughout the world. But we believe that in this case the allegations are baseless and unfair to Peter Jackson and his team in Wellington who have been tireless supporters of the New Zealand motion picture community.
A leaked memo last week informed us that an MGM buyout wouldn’t go through. MGM is on target for a planned bankruptcy and association with Spyglass that will likely allow two ‘Hobbit’ movies to go forward. Today we have info directly from the once potential buyer reported by the Associated Press which says:
Indian conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar says that its offer to buy out the creditors of struggling Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. for more than $2 billion has been rejected.
Subrata Roy Sahara, the company’s chairman, had a conference call with creditors on Tuesday. The company said late Thursday that the offer was rejected within hours.
A spokesman for Houlihan Lokey, an investment bank that is advising MGM’s creditors, declined to comment. You can read the rest right here.
