By Alan Fein

(AXcess News) New York - Film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has confirmed that it is looking for a buyer.  The producer of such films as the "Pink Panther" and "James Bond" 007 series is seeking a buyer after getting an extension on its debt from creditors.

MGM has until January 31st to may a payment on $4 billion of debt before creditors step in and take over the famed film studio and its movie inventories.

Some $3.7 billion in bonds which are due interest payments are held by 140 lenders and mature in 2012.  MGM's Vice-Chairman, Stephen Cooper, a restructuring expert, said in a statement Friday that the film studio was looking at a possible sale in order to satisfy its creditors.

The lenders have agreed to look for a possible investor for the extensive 4,000 film library owned by MGM, an outright sale of the studio or some form of partnership that could include its TV titles, such as "Dancing with Wolves" and "Rocky".

One possible suitor could be Tom Cruise, who heads United Artists, an MGM subsidiary that produced Cruise's WWII film "Valkyrie" which grossed $200 million last year.  Cruise has not commented on his interest in MGM, but if any Hollywood celebrity could gather fellow actors together to buy into MGM, Tom Cruise is just the man to do it.