Turner Apparently Buried Goldwyn Deal

It appears Ted Turner has left Samuel Goldwyn Jr. and his financially ailing movie company at the altar.

The expected $7.4-billion marriage of his own company with the mighty Time Warner apparently quelled Turner’s passion to add the independent production and distribution concern to his empire.

There is no official comment from the Turner camp, but sources close to the company say a potential deal to buy Goldwyn fizzled as soon as serious negotiations with Time Warner got under way a few weeks ago.

By becoming part of the world’s largest media company--which includes Hollywood’s most formidable studio, Warner Bros.--Turner no longer has the need for Goldwyn’s library of prestigious independent films or its production capacity, supposedly the assets in which he was most interested.

A more relevant question is why would Time Warner need a Goldwyn? Acquiring Turner would bring two other full-fledged movie companies, New Line Cinema (and its Fine Line specialized film subsidiary) and Castle Rock Entertainment, and the start-up Turner Pictures, into the company’s fold.

This is not good news for Goldwyn, since Turner had been the front-runner among the parties interested in making a bid for the company.

Last week, one Wall Street analyst who follows Goldwyn said Turner’s being distracted let other Goldwyn suitors catch up, among them PolyGram, Seagram’s MCA Inc., Jones Intercable and Hallmark. But since then, all has been quiet on the Goldwyn front.

“The stock is deflated and there’s no demand for it at all,” said one financial source from a major Wall Street firm. “The market is saying there’s nobody for it.”

Goldwyn’s stock closed Monday at $5.375, down 12.5 cents on the American Stock Exchange. The price has plummeted almost 45% from its 52-week high of $9.75 in mid-February, with half of that drop coming in the last week.

In June, the company said that unless it received new financing, it may “not have sufficient liquidity to meet repayments” of bank loans--reportedly about $66 million.

Some parties have reportedly balked at the company’s supposed asking price of $140 million.

One way for Goldwyn to stay afloat might be to sell off its crown jewel, the 125-screen Landmark Theatres chain. But company founder Samuel Goldwyn Jr., who controls 61% of the common stock, has refused to sell the company piecemeal.

Goldwyn refused to comment Monday, but one source familiar with the company said Goldwyn was approached recently with a $50-million proposal to buy the art house chain, which has an annual operating profit of about $5 million.

Producers Roger Corman and Brad Krevoy, along with exhibition veteran Frank Moreno, also have been formulating a bid for the chain.

The cash-rich PolyGram had been said to be in second position behind Turner to acquire Goldwyn, but it is unclear what its position is now. A source suggested that PolyGram executives may now be preoccupied with pursuing a bid for Spelling Entertainment.

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Talk about teetering: With his company teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, a number of suitors are considering signing on Carolco Pictures Chairman Mario Kassar, the flamboyant wheeler-dealer responsible for such “event films” as “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and “Basic Instinct,” the highest-grossing films worldwide of 1991 and 1992, respectively.

Kassar is not a free agent, though. Unless Carolco goes under, he is contractually bound to it for another two years. Talks with financial entities and studios such as Universal Pictures aimed at selling the debt-ridden company itself--with Kassar as one of its most valuable assets--are continuing.

Universal and Kassar’s former Carolco partner Andy Vajna are said to be among those most eager to get into business with Kassar.

MCA Vice Chairman Tom Pollock refused to confirm any discussions, but he said Kassar is a valuable commodity. “Mario is a very underrated, creative producer,” he said.

Vajna, whose company Cinergi Productions is badly in need of a hit in the wake of this summer’s ill-fated, mega-budget “Judge Dredd,” is also said to be hovering. He and Kassar had a successful run of big-ticket movies at Carolco, which they co-founded and ran together until 1989, when Kassar bought Vajna out for a reported $106 million. Best friends, the two still chat on the phone daily.

Vajna declined to comment.

Interest in Carolco is understandably dimmed by its dire financial picture and the fact that domestic rights to its library are spoken for.

Times staff writer James Bates contributed to this report.