Merrick here...

Nikki Finke over at Deadline Hollywood has some alarming details about phone calls which went down yesterday between MGM and bondholders.

MGM made a desperate plea for money because the studio had missed its numbers and was going to be out of funds very soon. "The implication was that it's teetering on bankruptcy," one source told me. MGM said it needed $20M in short-term cash flow to cover overhead, and an additional $150 million to get through the end of year and continue funding its projects, and to start Peter Jackson's Hobbit.
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...if MGM were forced into bankruptcy, then it would lose James Bond and the studio doesn't think it can stay alive without 007.
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Also, if MGM goes through bankruptcy, that's a very expensive prospect (where only the lawyers get rich), and extremely disruptive (since who would do business with MGM in the interim) and won’t get the creditors what they want which is their money back. It's more than simply MGM losing Bond. The studio could lose a lot of other franchises.

...says Nikki HERE, where you can find many more details on the matter.

It's a safe bet that both THE HOBBIT and BOND would quickly find new homes (THE HOBBIT at Warners or Sony? BOND exclusively at Sony?). But, what would happen to other properties - like ROBOCOP? BUCKAROO BANZAI? And much more?

Stay tuned...