007 could get Bollywood-style makeover

[bjmdds]

If this drags on where does the financing come from for Bond 23? If it takes longer, CR-egg's looking older by the day to portray a youthful Bond. Cavill's ears ringing yet?

[Blowfeld]

Hollywood top guns take shot at reviving debt-ridden MGM

By Matthew Garrahan in Los Angeles and Helen Thomas in,New York

Published: April 9 2010 03:00 | Last updated: April 9 2010 03:00

Tony and Sir Ridley Scott have emerged as surprise contenders to steer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer back to solvency after submitting a restructuring plan to the Hollywood studio's lenders.

The brothers, who between them are responsible for Alien , Top Gun and Gladiator , have expressed interest in running MGM, according to people familiar with the situation.

MGM, with a $3.7bn (£2.4bn) debt burden, is in the hands of its creditors after it became clear it could not afford to meet its repayments. Companies in the Sony-led consortium that paid $5bn for the studio five years ago, including TPG and Providence Equity

, have seen their equity wiped out.

The studio, which owns the James Bond series and produced The Wizard of Oz , is on the auction block.

Time Warner led the bidding with a $1.5bn offer. But creditors were underwhelmed and are leaning instead towards a debt-for-equity swap and an injection of new capital to create a standalone company with a reduced debt burden.

Steven Cooper, the restructuring specialist who oversaw the bankruptcy of Enron, is managing the sale and is acting as interim chief executive.

He is likely to oversee a transition until a new management team - possibly including the Scott brothers - and a new chief executive are in place.

"MGM needs a chief executive that Wall Street knows and respects," a person familiar with the matter said.

The creditors have not decided whom to approach for the chief executive role.

Jonathan Dolgen, former chairman of Paramount Pictures, has been mentioned, as has Roger Birnbaum, chief executive of Spyglass Entertainment.

The Scott brothers have their own production company, Scott Free, but it is unclear whether their proposal would involve combining it with MGM, or if they are seeking a sta

The guys responsible for ruining The Andromeda Strain

[Kristatos]

Sweeney may get his dream of a Tony Scott-directed Bond film after all.

[katied]

They could Bond fighting aliens on another planet perhaps(kidding, kidding!)

[Blowfeld]

Robin Hood sequel likely



With a major property there's always a chance of a sequel but in a recent interview with the Sunday Times, Russell Crowe revealed that Robin Hood will be an origin story opening the possibilities of a sequel. The movie isn't due for release until the summer season but Crowe's interview indicates that Robin doesn't really become the loveable Robin Hood character until the film's final act. This would suggest that they'd want to make a series of it but there are some major stumbling blocks. Ridley Scott, director of Robin Hood, is part of an audicious bid to seize control of MGM studios. Ridley and brother Tony Scott have submitted a restructuring plan in an attempt to rescue MGM from bankrupcy. MGM currently have a debt of over $3 billion. Even if he didn't end up having a hands on approach to running a major studio, which would almost certainly curtail any of his own projects, Ridley has a host of projects in the pipeline already including The Kind One, Forever War, Brave New World and, if it ever comes about, the prequel to Alien. He's a busy man. Meanwhile time isn't on Russell Crowe's side either. He's already the oldest Robin Hood in cinematic history and if he waits for Ridley to become available is likely to be in his 50's by the time a sequel roles around.