Bob Yari, the development baron-turned-indie mogul who co-produced Crash before losing a lawsuit to share the film's 2005 Best Picture Oscar, announced late Friday that he'd seek bankruptcy protection for his distribution company.

The Chapter 11 filing doesn't affect the production arm of of Yari Film Group, which was responsible for Crash and has another two putative Oscar contenders this fall in What Doesn't Kill You and Nothing But the Truth. The latter film opens under the cloud this Friday, a week after a court order requiring the reorganization; to Yari's credit, he said he has no plans to cut jobs or benefits, though he does, alas, still intend to make the Jennifer Lopez romcom The Governess.

The Yari library, for what it's worth, is expected to get a close inspection in the months going forward. Tip to creditors: Keep The Illusionist, set Winter Passing on fire, sell the rest for parts. And if you can somehow wrangle YFG's rights to the languishing Joe Carnahan adaptation of Killing Pablo? Maybe shuffle them over to Miramax or Fox Searchlight? You'd make a lot of people's days.