It's official — Amazon is buying MGM. This morning, the shopping giant announced it's acquiring the historic film and TV studio for a massive $8.45 billion USD.
The news follows weeks of negotiations and a ton of rumours. But Amazon Prime Video will now officially be getting a major content boost. After all, MGM owns the rights to some 4,000 film titles and 17,000 television episodes, including the James Bond franchise, Silence of the Lambs, The Hobbit, Rocky, RoboCop, Pink Panther and many more.
Among the upcoming MGM productions are the new Bond film No Time to Die, Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, Ridley Scott's House of Gucci starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, and even Paul Thomas Anderson's next film.
So yeah, this is by no means small potatoes for Amazon. And with the company shelling out nearly $9 billion for MGM, this makes it Amazon's second-largest acquisition after it bought Whole Foods for almost $14 billion back in 2017.
Amazon now plans to use MGM's long list of iconic properties to spin them into new originals.
"The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM's talented team," said Mike Hopkins, senior vice-president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, in a statement. "It's very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling."
Amazon declined to say when it expects the deal to be finalized, but expect your Amazon Prime Video catalog to experience some serious growth.
The news follows weeks of negotiations and a ton of rumours. But Amazon Prime Video will now officially be getting a major content boost. After all, MGM owns the rights to some 4,000 film titles and 17,000 television episodes, including the James Bond franchise, Silence of the Lambs, The Hobbit, Rocky, RoboCop, Pink Panther and many more.
Among the upcoming MGM productions are the new Bond film No Time to Die, Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, Ridley Scott's House of Gucci starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, and even Paul Thomas Anderson's next film.
So yeah, this is by no means small potatoes for Amazon. And with the company shelling out nearly $9 billion for MGM, this makes it Amazon's second-largest acquisition after it bought Whole Foods for almost $14 billion back in 2017.
Amazon now plans to use MGM's long list of iconic properties to spin them into new originals.
"The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM's talented team," said Mike Hopkins, senior vice-president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, in a statement. "It's very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling."
Amazon declined to say when it expects the deal to be finalized, but expect your Amazon Prime Video catalog to experience some serious growth.