Last week, I wrote how MGM shot down a classic James Bond fan film, mentioning in passing that the studio has a history of money troubles. Now The New York Times has revealed that the finances are worse than anybody thought:
MGM is choking on $3.7 billion in debt, forcing it to cough up more than $300 million in annual interest payments while it delays paying down the principal, its financial statements show. Bargain hunters are circling the company as it continues to bleed cash. For the fiscal year ended in March, MGM lost about $400 million; it lost about the same amount a year earlier.
Wow! Well, that explains why they went after Moonraker ’78—when shoring up the bottom line, eliminating competition from 30-year-old, Super 8mm home movies should always be Priority One.
MGM isn’t the only studio attacking fan films these days, though; as I noted some time ago, Fox recently sledgehammered Max Payne: Payne and Redemption, a fan flick based on the popular video game franchise. The filmmakers spent three years on the movie and were almost done, when the studio—which owns the game’s movie rights—threatened a lawsuit unless they quit. Some fans were irked—check out Bob Cornero’s update on Mumbo Jumbo Daily:
One has to wonder… is the (doubtlessly overpaid) Vice President of Intellectual Property over at Fox so bored sitting behind their desk, so tired of flicking pencils at the ceiling and fiddling with paper-clips that he or she had to spin the roulette wheel of properties Fox owns, input it into Google and make life miserable for some poor sucker to alleviate the sheer monotony of their life?
I mean, I can’t think of a reasonable explanation other than being a short-sighted bully for pursuing this sort of action, because it’s either that or someone has confidence issues.
coughcoughFOX…not Sony. :p
That’s what I get for blogging past Midnight. Thanks for the catch–it’s been corrected.
Awesome blog Clive, very awesome.