MGM/UA
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McAvoy Joins X-Men, Polley's Take This Waltz, Newsweek's New Look
- Director Matthew Vaughn has cast Wanted star James McAvoy to play the role of the young Charles Xavier (created by Patrick Stewart) in Fox's next X-Men installment, the origin story X-Men: First Class. We like The Playlist's casting suggestion of Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) to play ...
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Alice To Pass $1 Billion, Hollywood for Sale, Bale Talking Hillcoat Flick
-Disney's Alice in Wonderland will cross the $1 billion worldwide box-office threshold tomorrow, marking the sixth movie to do so and a record for a springtime release. With over $332 million domestic and $667 million foreign, Alice in Wonderland is Disney's second-highest grosser behind Pirates of ...
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MGM Accepts Bids, Extends Debt Deadline
In anticipation of a reported $1.5 billion bid by Time Warner, MGM extended the deadline for the close of bidding from Friday to Monday, reports Reuters: "Lions Gate Entertainment and billionaire Len Blavatnik's industrial holding company Access Industries have put in second-round bids for Metro-Gol...
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MGM Gains Another Lender Extension
As MGM gets yet another extension on having to pay back its lenders--until March 31--it shows that finally it is in the interest of investors to keep the company afloat. The same thing is behind the Weinstein Co.'s new lease on life, as its investors are allowing the company to keep money coming into its coffers in the near term in order to fund and release more movies that might turn out to be profitable. Similarly, while Michael London's Groundswell has lost much of its money (I hear some $50 million) and TPG/Axon pulled its remaining equity (its corporate parent TPG also took a bath on MGM), Groundswell lender Comerica has fronted the comp...
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Bond 23 Update: Sam Mendes in Talks to Direct
When your career needs a boost and there are few available top-dollar jobs: take a franchise.
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Bond Producers Put Number 23 On Hold
Writer Peter Morgan (The Queen) worked on a first draft of Bond 23 that he described as a "shocking story" from July until October last year, followed by regular writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. But EON Productions has put pre-production work on the film on hold pending the resolution of distrib...
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MGM Catches Reprieve from Lenders, Part Deux
For the second time, MGM is catching a break from its lenders, as the venerable studio officially goes on the block. It has been fighting to stay in business, while keeping up with even the interest owed on its staggering $3.7-billion debt. So far MGM has avoided being forced into bankruptcy by its ...
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Epix Launches October 30
When I first heard that three studios--Lionsgate, MGM and Paramount--were bypassing pay-TV deals in favor of a new online streaming venture, I thought the new distribution order was at hand. While the other studios were still hung up on the old ancillary paradigm, this gang was skipping windows and ...
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MGM Catches Reprieve from Lenders
MGM has been under serious duress as it attempts to stay in business, while keeping up with even the interest owed on its staggering $3.7-billion debt. While the following statement indicates that the company will be relieved of three interest payments, there are miles to go before MGM comes out in ...
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Hollywood Health Report
Each day brings more news of a troubled company needing debt restructuring or a management overhaul. The Weinstein Co. and MGM are just the latest examples. All the studios face pressure from their corporate parents in a grim recession amid declining ad and DVD revenues. Sales are down across the bo...
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