Want to Buy Village Roadshow’s Stake in ‘The Matrix’? It’ll Cost At Least $417.5M

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Village Roadshow Entertainment Group’s film library will sell for at least $417.5 million.

As a gamer, I’m thrilled to share that Judge Thomas Horan has given the green light to Alcon Media Group’s bid for Village Roadshow’s movie collection! This deal includes a piece of iconic franchises like The Matrix and Ocean’s, as well as their budding studio and numerous copyrights. These rights allow the new owner to team up on producing proven blockbusters. The initial offer, known as a stalking horse bid, serves as a minimum price for these assets. An auction will be held to test this price. Other potential bidders, such as Warner Bros. Discovery and Content Partners, might still step in with their own offers.

Just recently, Village Roadshow, formerly known for being a significant financial force behind the scenes in Hollywood, sought bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. This move was attributed to a high-cost internal content creation project and the deterioration of their long-standing partnership with Warner Bros.

In a competitive bidding scenario, Alcon Entertainment, a co-producer of Blade Runner 2049, outbid Content Partners by offering more than their proposed $365 million. A court will supervise this auction aimed at maximizing the worth of Village Roadshow’s assets. Interested parties have until May 16 to submit their bids.

The worth of Village Roadshow’s film properties, earning approximately $50 million yearly, is under debate. One factor contributing to the company’s bankruptcy filing was Warner Bros.’ reported refusal to work on films where Village Roadshow shared the rights, such as Sherlock Holmes, the Ocean’s series, and Ready Player One. This move occurred before a lawsuit alleging breach of contract against the studio due to its plan to simultaneously release The Matrix: Resurrections in 2021 on HBO Max and in theaters under Project Popcorn. Prior to this dispute, Village Roadshow sought involvement in a TV series Warner Bros. was developing based on Edge of Tomorrow, but were informed that the project wouldn’t progress unless they gave up their rights. Ultimately, the show was cancelled by the studio.

Additionally, there’s debate about the worth of Village Roadshow’s studio business. Since 2018, they’ve been working on 99 films and 233 TV series, but so far, only 6 movies and 7 TV shows have moved into production at a total cost of $47.5 million. Unfortunately, none of these productions have managed to make a profit, casting doubt on the long-term success of their in-house content creation efforts.

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2025-04-23 03:24