The bankrupted production company Village Roadshow, which financed The Matrix, has a catalogue of films worth a minimum of $417.5m, a judge has ruled.
The collapse of Village Roadshow in March 2025 brought to an end a production company whose history stretched back to the late 80s. In the wake of its bankruptcy, the LA-based firm’s back catalogue of films is going up for sale at auction – and the winning bidder will now have to pay a minimum of $417.5m to get it.
The ruling was made on the 22nd April according to The Hollywood Reporter, with Alcon Media Group – the production company behind Blade Runner 2049 and TV’s The Expanse – putting in an offer for Village Roadshow’s rights for that above-mentioned sum. The bid was approved by a bankruptcy judge, which means that it’s now the minimum the film rights will sell for – a competitor could come in and make a higher bid than Alcon’s, but they’ll have to do so before the hammer goes down on the 16th May.
Whoever wins will become the owner of 108 movies, which includes The Matrix and Ocean’s franchises as well as Ready Player One, Joker and more besides. It’s reported that Village Roadshow’s library is worth around $50m in annual revenue.
If you’re wondering how a 36 year-old company with so many big films to its name could go bust, then there’s a short answer: legal issues. For much of its history, Village Roadshow had a fruitful relationship with Warner Bros, which distributed the production company’s films in cinemas. The partnership soured during the pandemic, however, when Warner opted to place several films, including The Matrix Resurrections, on its streaming service as well as in cinemas. Village Roadshow argued that the decision starved it of box office revenue, and sued.
Read more: The Matrix Resurrections review | A belated sequel that falls some way short
Village Roadshow also alleged that Warner Bros had refused to collaborate on films the two companies co-owned – including Sherlock Holmes and Ready Player One sequels – further robbing it of cash (again, allegedly). The case dragged on for at least three years, cost Village Roadshow millions, and eventually led to it filing for bankruptcy in March.
“The WB arbitration has caused the company to incur more than $18,000,000 in legal fees, nearly all of which remain unpaid, and presents the threat of a potential arbitration award that could flatten the company’s balance sheet, but that is not the full extent of its impact,” Village Roadshow’s bosses wrote in a statement at the time. “Even if the WB arbitration is resolved, the company believes that it has irreparably decimated the working relationship between WB and the company, which has been the most lucrative nexus for the company’s historic success in the entertainment industry.”
Alcon’s recent bid for the company’s library was far in excess of an earlier offer, Content Partners, which had put in a bid of $365m. Ironically, there’s another party that could still put in a bid of its own before May: Warner Bros.
