Steven Spielberg’s struggle to raise $325 million of debt for his new studio, DreamWorks SKG, illustrates the troubles Hollywood is having as it tries to finance its movies during a credit crunch.

After months of negotiations, DreamWorks and its financing partner, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., so far have raised about half of the $325 million in debt financing it needs to launch this spring, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. It is on track to raise the remainder within a month or two, according to several people close to the negotiations.

The $325 million goal is already less than half of what the studio initially had hoped to raise in debt financing when it announced last summer it was forming a new partnership with India’s Reliance ADA Group. The challenges that one of Hollywood’s best-known directors has faced in assembling a group of backers doesn’t bode well for other studios.

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