MGM, which is reported to be pleading with its creditors not to force it into bankruptcy — thus terminating or at least compromising its rights to the James Bond series and “The Hobbit” — is claiming a $10 million dollar opening weekend for “Fame,” placing it at a distant third.

Expect the usual spin about how MGM expects the film to hold well, and how the alleged $18 million budget, covered in partnership with Lakeshore Entertainment, was covered by foreign pre-sales. But make no mistake, this heavily-promoted disappointment, MGM’s sole release of 2009, may be the final nail in the coffin for the ailing studio, and perhaps the last theatrical film it ever distributes.

MGM has a half a dozen or so films in various states of completion, and several greenlighted products it lacks the funds to shoot. Also disappointing was Disney’s adult-skewing sci-fi adventure “Surrogates,” which carried a reported pricetage of $80 million but managed only an estimated $15 million.

Inexplicable was the Mouse House’s  decision not to screen the movie until the last minute — the morning before  opening in NYC — which signaled critics they didn’t think it was very good (a minority of reviewers  with tastes as varied as Kyle Smith and Leonard Maltin gave it a thumbs up anyway).

“Surrogates,” which some predicted could win the weekend, came in nearly $10 million below the incumbent box-office leader, “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.” In limited release, Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story” averaged $60,000 at four theaters; an open question is how well it will play beyond the East and West Coasts.