Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is getting another stay of execution.The beleaguered movie studio has received a six-week extension on a looming due date for interest payments on $3.7 billion in debt while its banks and bondholders debate the future of the company.

MGM confirmed that its 140-plus lenders have agreed to push back the deadline from Friday until May 14. That’s the fourth extension MGM has received since October. In addition, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to delay the due date for payments on a $250-million revolving credit facility to May 14 from April 8.

The expected moves give MGM’s stakeholders more time to decide whether to accept a $1.5-billion acquisition offer from Time Warner Inc. or a competing bid from industrialist Len Blavatnik’s holding company, Access Industries, both of which came in below the $2 billion-plus that the studio’s creditors were seeking. MGM could also pursue a restructuring that would keep it as an independent company or enter bankruptcy proceedings.

• Read the full Los Angeles Times story.