One day after filing for voluntary redundancy, a lawyer for
Village Roadshow Entertainment Group (VREG) said the company is “open to all bids” for its film library that includes the Matrix films and Joker.
According to a report by Reuters, a lawyer for Los Angeles-based VREG said the embattled company is aiming to hold an auction in May.
VREG filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday with a tentative agreement to sell the library to investors Content Partners for $365m, on the understanding that other higher bids may come in. The library is said to generate approximately $50m in annual revenues.
The Reuters report said the lawyer for VREG speculated that Warner Bros, with whom VREG co-financed many of the tentpoles in the film library, may bid. An attorney for Alcon Entertainment said that company could also make an offer.
VREG’s bankruptcy filing is the latest in a litany of episodes that has seen the company struggle since the pandemic.
VREG is locked in an ongoing arbitration with Warner Bros after it sued the studio for breach of contract in February 2022 for releasing The Matrix Resurrections simultaneously in cinemas and on HBO Max.
In December the Writers Guild of America issued a stop-work order to VREG amid late payments to writers, and in January of this year, CEO Steve Mosko departed.
VREG is separate from the Australia-based Village Roadshow Group, which was formed in 1954 and includes Village Roadshow Theme Parks, Roadshow Distributors, Roadshow Productions, Village Roadshow Studios and Village Cinemas.
Since 2017, Village Roadshow Group has had no strategic, operational control, management oversight or financial responsibility for VREG, and owns less than 3% in VREG.
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