MGM Seeks $600 Million to Make `Hobbit,’ `Pink Panther’ Movies

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., the movie studio controlled by private-equity firms, is raising as much as $600 million to produce some of its biggest films including “The Hobbit.” [...] MGM’s would be the first movie fund completed since Deutsche Bank AG and Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures scrapped plans last month to raise $450 million. The MGM fund includes “The Hobbit,” being produced by “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson [...] ”The Hobbit,” being directed by Guillermo del Toro, is scheduled for release in December 2011. Jackson’s three “Lord of the Rings” movies, distributed by New York-based Time Warner, each cost about $95 million to make, according to Imdb.com.