There has been reports brewing for the last week that Amazon was looking to acquire MGM studios. MGM had been struggling to hold on during the COVID-19 pandemic with their biggest films, namely the 25th Bond film No Time to Die, unable to be released and the studio not having any streaming deals to keep them afloat. Now, it's been confirmed that MGM has in fact been acquired by MGM for $8.45 billion.
This acquisition, much like Disney's recent acquisition of 20th Century Fox, will allow Amazon access to MGM's film and TV library. It's been estimated that the studio owns over 4000 titles and 17,000 hours of television programming. This is not the first time MGM had been pursuing selling their studio as the studio had previously filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010, but managed to pull out of that struggle. This time though, MGM was unable to hold on. Mike Hopkins, senior VP of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, declared in a press statement today, “the real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalogue that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team.”
With this acquisition, Amazon has gained the rights to such properties as the James Bond films, the Rocky films (thus also the Creed spin-offs), the Stargate franchise, The Hobbit franchise (which was co-produced by Warner Bros.), the Pink Panther films, and the RoboCop franchise. In addition, all of MGM's upcoming projects are now owned by Amazon as well. Stay tuned!
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