Orion Expects a $31-Million Loss for Year

Orion Pictures, having already reported losses of $9 million for the first nine months, said Tuesday that it expects a loss of about $31 million for the year ended Feb. 28.

It will be Orion’s first money-losing year since 1982, when the company was partially reorganized by a former United Artists management group with the acquisition of Filmways and a cash infusion of $26 million by a group of New York investors.

Mel Woods, chief financial officer for the New York-based company, cited several reasons for the anticipated fourth-quarter loss of $22 million.

Woods said Orion decided to take “moderate write-offs on more than 30 pictures . . . going back a couple of years.” In addition, he noted that the company decided not to release any films during the “congested” Christmas season and made almost no deals to license motion pictures for home video use during the last three quarters because it has decided to launch its own home video distribution company.

Although Orion had several critical successes at the box office last year, its biggest hit, “Desperately Seeking Susan,” generated only $11 million in film rentals.

Orion recently rebuffed two unsolicited bids for control from separate investor groups in Los Angeles while condoning the sale of a 29% stake to Viacom International by WP Films Associates, the limited partnership that helped Orion get its start in 1982.