Village Roadshow Pictures, one of Hollywood’s legendary film financiers, is at risk of insolvency. At the root of its current struggles is its unraveling partnership with Warner Bros., with whom they have partnered to produce over 100 films since Roadshow’s founding in 1989. The collapse of the theatrical window has placed additional strain on the company, leading some to question whether a company that specializes in theatrical releases can continue to survive.
Village Roadshow was founded in the late 1990’s when they began their work with Warner Bros. on an extensive list of successful movies including THE MATRIX and OCEAN’S franchises, HAPPY FEET and THE LEGO MOVIE, and many others. The partnership was successful for years until in 2015 a string of jointly produced titles fell flat. That caused Warner Bros. to dial back on their investment in new projects with Village Roadshow.
Then came the pandemic and the collapse of the theatrical window, sending studios scrambling to figure out how to make the most of their movie slates while building out in-house streaming platforms. Infamously, in early 2021 Warner Bros. announced its “Project Popcorn” initiative which directed its entire slate of movies for 2021 to be “day & date” releases, making them available simultaneously to theatres and to stream on HBO Max.
This crop of movies included the first Denis Villeneuve DUNE movie and the MATRIX RESURRECTIONS sequel, both of which Village Roadshow had helped finance and produce. Village Roadshow had planned on earning back its investment from both films through its cut of the theatrical grosses, but “Project Popcorn” undercut those prospects. Village Roadshow chose to file a suit against Warner Bros., which is still in litigation and unresolved.
This legal battle has taken a heavy toll on Village Roadshow. Puck’s entertainment journalist Matthew Belloni interviewed Jim Moore, the CEO of Vine Alternative Investments, the current private equity owner of the company. Moore is working on a deal to sell his company to an asset management investor.
If the deal does not go through, there is a good chance bankruptcy will be Moore’s only remaining option. This saga of distress is another indication of the fundamental changes in the theatrical market, making it much harder for production companies such as Village Roadshow to exist and be profitable.
