DeLaurentiis Files Bankruptcy

DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group Inc., left floundering by a string of box office flops, filed today for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy law.

The move had been expected since Friday, when the company founded by Italian producer Dino DeLaurentiis revealed that it had failed to negotiate a debt swap with bondholders that it had termed essential for survival. The company--maker of the movies “Crimes of the Heart” and “Weeds” and the TV miniseries “Noble House”--has sold assets and sought to restructure its debt in order to survive.