'Joker,' 'Matrix' producer Village Roadshow files for bankruptcy protection

Summary

Village Roadshow Entertainment has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a dark turn for the once-prolific film financing company that backed the “Joker,” “The Matrix” and “Ocean’s Eleven” movie franchises. The West Hollywood company blamed its ongoing legal battle with longtime partner Warner Bros. for its collapse, according to a Monday filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Village Roadshow also conceded that its ambitious push into producing independent films and television programs before the pandemic was unprofitable, exacerbating its financial woes. The breach of contract lawsuit against Warner Bros. came after the studio introduced “The Matrix Resurrections” in December 2021 on its HBO Max streaming service the same day the film was released in movie theaters. Village Roadshow complained that the Burbank studio’s pivot away from an exclusive theatrical release had destroyed the value of a key franchise. Village Roadshow’s predicament is a stark example of how the entertainment industry’s shift to streaming has upended once-vibrant businesses. Since its founding in 1997, Village Roadshow has co-produced and co-financed more than 100 movies that together generated more than $19 billion in worldwide box office receipts, according to court documents.“A confluence of macro-economic factors have weighed heavily on the company’s balance sheet,” Keith Maib, an executive with Accordion Partners who is serving as chief restructuring officer for the Village Roadshow liquidation, wrote in a declaration. The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes and major entertainment companies’ embrace of streaming helped crater the company, Maib wrote.The bankruptcy filing was designed to facilitate “orderly sales of the debtor’s assets,” he said.Village Roadshow is controlled by Vine Media Opportunities, Falcon Strategic Partners and a Canadian limited partnership, 1397225 Ontario Ltd.The company said its assets are worth an est...