Amazon Buys MGM for $8.45 Billion and That Includes the James Bond Franchise and More
Not long ago word got out that Amazon was looking to acquire MGM for $9 billion. We’ll that sale is now official. Amazon and MGM announced a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire MGM for $8.45 billion.
MGM was founded in 1924, and it has a long cinematic history in Hollywood and they are behind some of great movie classics. It’s said that Amazon will help “preserve MGM’s heritage and catalog of films and provide customers with greater access to these existing works.”
MGM has more than 4,000 movies and 17,000 TV shows in its catalog, and there’s no doubt that we’ll see many of those end up streaming on Amazon Prime. Amazon Studios is also planning to dig into these MGM properties like the Pink Panther, Rocky, and James Bond and build on those franchises.
Mike Hopkins, senior VP of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, said in announcing the deal, “The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of [intellectual property] in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team. It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.”
Some of the other franchises mentioned in the announcement include 12 Angry Men, Basic Instinct, Creed and Rocky, Legally Blonde, Moonstruck, Poltergeist, Raging Bull, Robocop, Silence of the Lambs, Stargate, Thelma & Louise, Tomb Raider, The Magnificent Seven, The Pink Panther, The Thomas Crown Affair, Fargo, The Handmaid’s Tale and Vikings.
Kevin Ulrich, MGM’s chairman who had worked with Hopkins to hammer out the deal, said in a statement, “I am very proud that MGM’s Lion, which has long evoked the Golden Age of Hollywood, will continue its storied history, and the idea born from the creation of United Artists lives on in a way the founders originally intended, driven by the talent and their vision. The opportunity to align MGM’s storied history with Amazon is an inspiring combination.”
It’s going to be interesting to see what Amazon does with MGM and all of the film and TV properties it now owns. Hopefully, we see some cool projects come out of it.
Source: Variety