Village Roadshow, the film studio behind successful franchises such as The Matrix, Ocean's Eleven, Joker and The Lego Moviehas filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the USA. The filing was made in Delaware with debts totalling USD 223.8 million from secured bonds and a further USD 163.1 million in senior liabilities.
A key factor in the insolvency is the protracted legal dispute with Warner Bros. over the release of The Matrix Resurrections (2021). Warner Bros. had released the film simultaneously in cinemas and on Max (formerly HBO Max), whereupon Village Roadshow sued for breach of contract. The company argued that this strategy had significantly reduced cinema revenues. Warner Bros., on the other hand, argued that the contract only provided for a wide theatrical release, not exclusive exploitation. The case was transferred to arbitration in 2022, which continues to this day and has already cost the company over 18 million dollars in unsettled legal fees.
In addition to the legal problems, Village Roadshow had to deal with the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Hollywood writers' strike, which delayed numerous film productions. The company, which was founded in 1997, originally had a close collaboration with Warner Bros. that spanned almost 90 films. But in 2018, Village Roadshow began developing its own film and TV projects independently of major studios - an endeavour that failed financially, as none of the six films or seven TV formats produced were profitable. At the end of 2023, the Writers Guild of America even put the studio on its "strike list" because it had not paid writers.
Due to ongoing liquidity problems, Village Roadshow began looking for a buyer in early 2024. In the meantime, the workforce shrank from 45 to just 11 employees. According to the insolvency documents, the potential buyer CP Ventura LLC - represented by Steven Kram and Steven Blume of Content Partners LLC - submitted an offer of USD 365 million for the film rights library.
However, the legal dispute with Warner Bros. continues. The studio had already sued Village Roadshow in 2022 because it demanded a payment of over 100 million dollars for The Matrix Resurrections had not paid. Village Roadshow argued that, under the circumstances, this sum would have amounted to a financial loss for nothing in return. In addition, the studio accuses Warner Bros. of having excluded it from potential co-financing rights for up to 15 projects.
The decisive arbitration proceedings are scheduled for 25 April 2025.
