MGM Drops Distribution for Zack and Miri Make a Porno… Financial Trouble Brewing?
We received an updated poster yesterday for Kevin Smith’s upcoming comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno, the only difference being that MGM’s logo had been removed since the movie is “no longer being distributed by MGM”. Seems simple enough, but it got me thinking… why would MGM drop out so late in the game? Was it due to the potentially controversial nature of the film, which has been at odds with the MPAA ever since the first trailer came out? Or was there something else going on here?
A quick look around the web didn’t find too many other people discussing this issue, but over at The Bad and The Ugly they are speculating that it could have something to do with MGM’s recent financial problems. According to an article in the New York Times in June, the studio is currently $3.7 billion in debt, and more recently, The Hollywood Reporter claimed that current owners Sony and Comcast were looking to sell. Could last week’s stock market crash have been the final nail in the coffin for MGM? Either way, it probably shouldn’t affect the release Zack and Miri, it just means that The Weinsteins are now going it alone. But it does beg the question, will we see any other Hollywood casualties to the current U.S. economic woes?
Comments (3)
Isn’t MGM in perpetual financial/distribution trouble (along with The Weinstein Company)?
The only ‘cash cow’ that they really have is the 007 films.
I’m surprised there isn’t a Barbershop 3 and 4 at this point, as that made them some coin, but otherwise, a lot of MGM financed films go direct to DVD.
Posted by kurt on September 24th, 2008Again, it kinda makes you wonder why they would drop out of a movie like this though. Kevin Smith’s movies always make money just because the budget is so low.
Posted by Sean on September 24th, 2008$3.7 BILLION? With a “B”? My distribution company is more profitable than that.
Posted by Matt on September 24th, 2008Leave a Reply