After weeks of gossip and speculation it looks as if time is finally up for one of Hollywood’s oldest film studios, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, better known to film lovers around the globe as MGM.

On 1st October news spread around the web that the studio behind film successes such as James Bond, The Haunting, The Thomas Crown Affair and Poltergeist had hit massive financial difficulty and was “teetering on the edge of bankrupcy“. Now, after seemingly being given a final reprieve just days after the intial story broke, the studio has apparently failed at the last innings.

Variety reports that MGM will “essentially be auctioned off in the next few weeks”, bringing to an end a cinematic legacy that spans over 85 years.

The result is that major studios will now have the opportunity to bid for MGM’s rich back catalogue of films, although only time will tell which studio comes up trumps in what is sure to be a free-for-all.

2009 has been a deadly year for Hollywood, earlier this year the most recent custodians of the Terminator franchise – Halcyon, filed for chapter 11 bankrupcy following financial difficulty, while a number of studios ceased production altogether for the remainder of 2009 several months ago.

I for one will be sorry to see MGM picked apart, however this serves as a stark reminder to all that even the oldest of institutions is not safe when recession rears it’s ugly head.