Village Roadshow Entertainment Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The film production and financing company that worked on franchises like The Matrix, Ocean’s Eleven, Joker, The Lego Movie and Wonka filed for bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware Monday.
As a devoted fan, I view the ongoing arbitration dispute between Village Roadshow and Warner Bros. over “The Matrix Resurrections” as a pivotal moment, essentially marking the end of our most profitable business partnership. In response to Warner Bros.’ release of the franchise film on Max simultaneously with its theater release, we took legal action, claiming breach of contract. This decision has already set us back $18 million in legal fees and counting.
“The Company historically enjoyed a prolific co-production, co-financing and co-ownership relationship with WB, which included the production, ownership and derivative rights flowing from 89 titles – including the Matrix franchise – and comprised the vast majority of the Debtors’ business,” according to the filing, signed by Accordion Partners managing director Keith Maib, Village Roadshow’s restructuring advisor.
“Even if the WB Arbitration is resolved, the Company believes that it has irreparably decimated the working relationship between WB and the Company, which has been the most lucrative nexus for the Company’s historic success in the entertainment industry,” the filing continued. “While the WB Arbitration does not impact the Debtors’ entitlements (including rights to receive payments in connection with) or ownership stake in its most valuable assets, the Library Assets, it has eradicated the Company’s potential income stream from the exploitation of the Derivative Rights and any new projects that could be co-financed by the Company and WB, both of which, prior to the WB Arbitration, were vital to the Company’s ongoing success.”
The company’s assets are estimated to be between $100 million and $500 million, while its liabilities range from $500 million to $1 billion.
Most of the value is in the form of the company’s library assets, with CP Ventura LLC attached to the filing as a “stalking horse” bidder for those assets at $365 million. The filing indicates that there was at least one other interested bidder for the library assets.
As a devoted admirer, I’ve been closely following the challenging journey Village Roadshow has been on lately, culminating in the recent bankruptcy filing. Earlier this year, our CEO Steve Mosko chose to step down from his role, and since then, we’ve seen several waves of layoffs that have left us with a lean team.
Previously, Village Roadshow was included on the Writers Guild of America’s (WGA) strike list because they had not made timely payments to their writers, highlighting the severe financial difficulties the company was experiencing at that time.
Last year, Village Roadshow sought advice from Goldman Sachs regarding a potential sale, and they identified a potential buyer. However, the ongoing arbitration with Warner Bros stalled the process of finalizing the deal.
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2025-03-17 16:44