Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, the film production company behind franchises such as The Matrix, Ocean’s and the Joker, has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US, according to a filing with a Delaware court.
The firm has blamed its financial troubles on a legal battle with its former partner Warner Bros (WB) and a “failed and costly endeavour” into the production of independent films and television series.
In a bid to mitigate some of its financial problems, Village Roadshow is proposing to sell its extensive film library for $365m (£281m).
The company’s debts are estimated to be between $500m and $1bn, according to the court documents.
Village RoadShow and WB produced and co-owned dozens of films over the years but their relationship soured in early 2022 after the release of the latest Matrix film – The Matrix Resurrections – on the streaming platform HBO Max.
Village Roadshow alleged WB had shut it out of its rights to any sequels and prequels of the films the two companies had previously worked on together.
“The WB arbitration has caused the company to incur more than $18m in legal fees, nearly all of which remain unpaid”, chief restructuring officer Keith Maib said in a court filing.
That legal battle, according to Mr Maib, has “irreparably decimated the working relationship” between the two companies, ultimately ending “the most lucrative nexus” for Village Roadshow’s historic success.
The other issue faced by Village Roadshow was a costly studio business launched in 2018. None of the films or television series independently produced as part of that endeavour delivered any profits.
Like other film companies in the US, Village Roadshow also struggled with a slump in demand from the pandemic and the disruption from the strike action by Hollywood actors and writers, which started in May 2023.
In December, the Writers Guild of America banned its members from working with Village Roadshow over the company’s alleged failure to pay its contributors.
This article was originally published at www.bbc.com
