The home of James Bond and Hot Tub Time Machine, is in bad shape right now. MGM has been in some big time debt recently and has just asked for a fifth extension to pay back some of that debt. Its hard to imagine that the studio that can print money whenever it releases a new Bond movie is in such financial difficulties. The Bond movies usually do solid business here in the States, but internationally it will usually make three times any amount it makes here.
The debt problem has grown so bad that a new Bond movie wont be enough to pay back their creditors. Instead MGM has been accepting offers for the purchase of the whole studio. As recently as November it put itself up for sale hoping to raise two billion dollars, but many believe that the bids that were being offered were well below this figure.
MGM's future is uncertain as there are no new films in development, they recently shelved production of the next James Bond film and are uncertain when production would be able to resume. Additionally, experts aren't sure if MGM will go through with another round of bidding or recapitalize itself.
MGM is carrying a debt of almost four billion now, but it does have assets that include its name and logo, a library of 4,000 titles, the James Bond franchise, and half an interest with the upcoming Hobbit movies. I feel that a buyer is inevitable, there are just too many potential revenue streams from the use of Bond and from their catalog of movies and characters.
