Amazon takes over MGM Studios for £5.97bn

The acquisition marks Amazon’s second-biggest after it bought upmarket grocery chain Whole Foods for £10.7bn in 2017. The sale includes Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s ‘Epix’ cable channel which makes popular TV shows including “Fargo,” “Vikings” and “Shark Tank.”

It is all about content. Netflix announced they spent over £13.7bn on content in 2020.

The James Bond franchise is among the most important content Amazon is taking hold of and comes with added complexity. The producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson essentially control the property’s creative and business operations. Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, contacted the producers before the deal closed to reassure them that the franchise would be in good hands at Amazon, people familiar with the call said. In addition, Ms. Broccoli has a long friendship with Jen Salke, who heads Amazon’s TV and movie operations.

Amazon agreed that all James Bond movies currently in the pipeline would continue to have a theatrical release. “Barbara and Michael still have control and are protected,” one of the people close to the deal said.

This £5.97bn takeover will put Amazon Prime ahead of long list of competitors such as Netflix, Disney+ and Apple TV by adding over 4000 beloved movie titles and 17,000 TV Shows to its catalogue. MGM has one of the industry’s most exciting upcoming film slates, including House of Gucci, James Bond – No Time to Die, Respect, The Addams Family 2 and the untitled Paul Thomas Anderson film. Other MGM beloved film titles includes 12 Angry Men, Basic Instinct, Creed, James Bond, Rocky, Pink Panther, Legally Blonde, Moonstruck, Poltergeist, Raging Bull, Robocop, Silence of the Lambs, Stargate, Thelma & Louise, Tomb Raider, The Magnificent Seven, The Thomas Crown Affair.

‘MGM has a vast, deep catalogue of much beloved intellectual property (IP) And with the talent at Amazon and the talent at MGM Studio, we can reimagine and develop that IP for the 21st century. It will be a lot of fun work and people who love stories will be the big beneficiaries’ CEO Jeff Bezos said during a recent annual meeting. Amazon said in a statement that the deal would allow MGM, founded in 1924 and recognised by its roaring Leo the Lion logo, “to continue to do what they do best: great storytelling.