A federal bankruptcy judge has approved MGM’s pre-packaged bankruptcy plan that will eliminate about $5 billion in debts and clear the way for the reorganized (and slimmed down) studio to resume producing movies and TV series.  The court-approved reorganization is crucial to the production of several high profile movie projects including The Hobbit, which Peter Jackson is directing and the as-yet-unnamed 23’rd James Bond film (the third featuring Daniel Craig), which Sam Mendes will helm, and which is now set to open in November of 2012.

Spyglass Entertainment honchos Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber will run the 86-year-old studio in accord with a bankruptcy plan that they have been fashioning since September (see “The Hobbit Inches Towards the Screen”).  According to the Los Angeles Times, MGM will not emerge from Chapter 11 until JPMorgan Chase closes on a $500 million loan that will provide the working capital for the new MGM’s continuing operations.