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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Relativity Media, the struggling "mini major" Hollywood studio behind movies such as "Immortals" and "Mirror Mirror," has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The filing will allow the studio to continue to operate while restructuring. The company owes $681 million to secured creditors. Of that, nearly $362 million came due June 1, triggering a search for new financing that ultimately failed.
The filing comes after a spate of lawsuits between Relativity and an entity called RKA that had lent it money to market movies. RKA claims Relativity inappropriately used most of the money to stay afloat.
Thursday's bankruptcy filing comes one day after Relativity announced it was laying off 75 of its approximately 350 employees.
Relativity had also pushed back the release of several movies to preserve cash, including the Kristen Wiig-led comedy "Masterminds."
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This story has been corrected to show that the company owes about $681 million to creditors, and that Wiig's first name is Kristen, not Kristin.
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