Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Hollywood's fabled and once most powerful studio, has filed for bankruptcy protection after it could no longer pay down its crippling debt or make and release new movies.

The filing, made Wednesday morning, comes after MGM's leading creditors struck a deal with corporate raider Carl Icahn, who had amassed about 15% of the company's debt and was previously pushing for a merger between MGM and Lions Gate.

Instead, Icahn agreed to support a plan under which the chief executives of film production and finance company Spyglass Entertainment will run MGM once it exits Chapter 11, which could occur in as soon as one month.

Under the pre-packaged bankruptcy plan, MGM's $4 billion worth of debt, upon which it could no longer afford to pay interest, will be converted into more than 99% of the equity in the studio, which is valued at $1.9 billion. Spyglass principals Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum will become co-chief executives and co-chairmen, running a slimmed-down MGM with significantly less overhead and start producing new movies, including a James Bond sequel and two films based on "The Hobbit" that will be co-financed with Warner Bros.

相关中文报道：摘自凤凰网

有着86年历史的好莱坞老牌电影公司米高梅，由於无力偿还巨额债务，3号宣布破产。

总部设在洛杉矶的米高梅电影公司在拒绝了狮门影业公司和亿万富翁卡尔伊钦的收购计划后，向纽约曼哈顿联邦法院申请破产保护。根据重组计划，米高梅将在1-2个月内脱离破产保护。好莱坞望远镜娱乐公司将把旗下两家子公司与米高梅公司合并，组成新的米高梅电影公司。在持有米高梅近40亿美元债务的债权人中，已经有八成投票支持米高梅的预组破产计划。米高梅公司表示，在破产重组过程中，公司将维持正常运作。

米高梅的债务危机已经持续了一段时间。之前，亿万富翁卡尔·伊坎曾购买了米高梅15%的债务，并致力推动米高梅与自己控股的狮门影业公司合并。

米高梅电影公司是好莱坞5大电影公司之一，曾推出包括乱世佳人，007系列，史泰龙系列在内的大批经典影片，并先后200次在奥斯卡金像奖上获奖，但近年来，由于一直没有卖座影片上映，公司债务缠身。