It’s business as usual for Australia’s Village Roadshow Group, following the announcement overnight that the US-based Village Roadshow Entertainment Group has filed for bankruptcy protection.
As previously reported, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group (VREG) has filed for Chapter 11 in Delaware, with US$223.8 million in asset-backed secured notes and US$163.1 million of senior secured debt, court documents show.
VREG is separate from the Australian operation, which was formed in 1954 and includes Village Roadshow Theme Parks, Roadshow Distributors, Roadshow Productions, Village Roadshow Studios and Village Cinemas, asserts a statement from the company, seen by Variety AU/NZ.
“Village Roadshow Group is not impacted by VREG’s financial issues,” the message reads. “Further, Village Roadshow Group’s nearly 50 year relationship with Warner Bros remains as strong as ever and is not impacted”.
Those Australia-based Village Roadshow Group businesses “all continue to be market leaders in their sectors and highly profitable”, the memo continues.
The confusion doesn’t end there. Reps at Village Roadshow Group say they found out about the Chapter 11 bankruptcy from media reports, like the rest of us.
Drawing a line between the businesses, the Village Roadshow Group says it has terminated its licence that allows VREG to use the Village Roadshow name.
“As former owners of VREG, we are extremely disappointed to read in the press that VREG has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the USA and I have immediately sent notice to terminate VREG’s use of the Village Roadshow name,” comments Clark Kirby, CEO Village Roadshow Group. “Any financial issues that VREG are having are completely separate to the Village Roadshow Group.”
Since 2017, the Village Roadshow Group has had no strategic, operational control, management oversight or financial responsibility for VREG, and the Australian business holds less than 3% in VREG, Kirby notes.
VREG was founded in 1997 and has produced and backed more than 100 films, including “The Matrix,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Joker” and “The Lego Movie.”
In 2017, it sold a controlling interest to Falcon Strategic Partners and Vine Media Opportunities, and the following year began developing its own film and TV projects, without a major studio partner.
The US company has been exploring a sale since early 2024, when the company employed 45 people. That headcount has since been reduced to 11.
For VREG, the development comes amid a long-drawn out and expensive legal battle with its long-standing partner Warner Bros. over “The Matrix Resurrections,” a 2021 sequel to the Wachowskis’ sci-fi series.
In the US, the Chapter 11 process enables businesses to restructure their debts and continue operating while developing a plan to repay creditors over time, and overseen by a court-appointed trustee.