HUGE HIT FOR SONY

$1B film writedown

Sony Corp. is stuck between a $1 billion rock and a hard place.

As the entertainment giant took a massive $976 million writedown of its film division on Monday, outgoing Sony Entertainment boss Michael Lynton and the Sony board were scrambling to compile a list of possible successors, industry sources told The Post.

The group is expected to reach out across the industry .

The effort has, in recent days, become the talk of Hollywood.

Meanwhile, as the Japanbased company continues to founder, a frenzy of banker pitches has started for pieces of the company that could be sold, sources noted.

Sony has maintained for a long time that no piece is on the block. But conditions are not improving.

On Monday, the thud of a nearly $1 billion non-cash impairment charge at Sony Pictures Entertainment seemed to unnerve employees.

Lynton and Sony Chief Executive Kaz Hirai issued a memo to assure workers that SPE remained a key part of Sony.

“We, the management of Sony Corp. and Sony Entertainment, take the fact of recording a substantial impairment charge very seriously,” the two wrote. “But make no mistake; Sony Corp.’s commitment to SPE remains unchanged.”

Sony said it was forced to take the massive writedown because streaming services have sucked the life out of DVD sales — cutting SPE’s value.

Earlier this month, Sony said Lynton, the chief executive of SPE, Sony’s movie and television unit, will step down in February.

Last week, The Post reported that Sony has been listening to bank pitches about a potential sale of its TV and film operations.

Sony/Columbia ended 2016 in fifth place among major movie studios, with an 8 percent market share, according to Box Office Mojo.

In November, Sony Chief Financial Officer Kenichiro Yoshida said a turnaround was “progressing, but it takes time for the benefit to be realized.”

In its latest statement, Sony also said it would cut its stake in M3, operator of membership-based medical-related online services, to 34 percent from 39.3 percent, in a bid to strengthen its financial standing.

Sony said the impact of the impairment charge and stake sale on the group’s earnings outlook for the current fiscal year is being evaluated and will be disclosed when it releases its thirdquarter results on Feb. 2.

Sony’s ADRs slipped 3.4 percent on Monday, to $29.44 — but remain up more than 23 percent over the past 12 months.