Orion, MGM-Pathe are still limping along.Orion, MGM-Pathe are still limping along Nothing much has changed for two troubled movie studios. Beverly Hills-based MGM-Pathe Communications Co. and New York-based Orion Pictures Corp. haven't been hurt or helped by the lackluster summer movie season, analysts say. There has been "no change" since the beginning of summer at MGM-Pathe, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Doug Lowell of San Francisco-based brokerage firm L.H. Alton & Co. Orion is a "moot An issue presenting no real controversy. Moot refers to a subject for academic argument. It is an abstract question that does not arise from existing facts or rights. issue," added Paul Marsh, an entertainment analyst with Los Angeles-based Kemper Securities, a brokerage firm. These two studios have been treading water all year. Orion has been lurking See lurk. (messaging, jargon) lurking - The activity of one of the "silent majority" in a electronic forum such as Usenet; posting occasionally or not at all but reading the group's postings regularly. near Chapter 11 waters since June, and defaulted on a $1.2 million interest payment in July. Most recently, the company has announced a proposed agreement in principle with the company's bondholders and its majority shareholders to restructure the company and rid itself of debt. Orion released "Bill and Ted's Bogus bo·gus adj. Counterfeit or fake; not genuine: bogus money; bogus tasks. [From obsolete bogus, a device for making counterfeit money. Journey" and "Mystery Date" this summer, which grossed $32.7 million and $2.7 million respectively. In all, it captured less than 4 percent of the market, said Christopher Dixon, an entertainment analyst with PaineWebber, a securities firm in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . Orion was already teetering on bankruptcy at the onset of summer, and the situation hasn't changed, Marsh said. MGM-Pathe has a similar story. MGM/ UA, already weakened in the later days of Kirk Kerkorian's rule, merged with Pathe Communications Co. in October 1989 and has been struggling to stay alive ever since. Among some of its troubles: the once-roaring studio warded off a bankruptcy petition by some of its creditors, and the studio's leading lender, Credit Lyonnais Bank Nederland, ousted chairman Giancarlo Parretti. MGM-Pathe lost $107.8 million on revenues of $525 million in 1990. "The drama in that camp has nothing to do with the movie business," said an analyst who ask to remain anonymous. However, MGM-Pathe did release one popular film, "Thelma and Louise," which grossed $40.5 million. Two newly released movies, "Life Stinks" and "Delirious de·lir·i·ous adj. Of, suffering from, or characteristic of delirium. ," have grossed about $3 million apiece a·piece adv. To or for each one; each: There is enough bread for everyone to have two slices apiece. [Middle English a pece : a, a; see a so far. Nevertheless, the underlying problem MGM-Pathe and Orion both have is a lack of enough cash to successfully market their films, Lowell said. And neither scored big enough at the box office this summer to put it on a solid footing. |
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