Amazon to acquire MGM studios
Amazon and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) have announced a merger agreement, in which Amazon will acquire the studio for a price of US$8.45 billion (A$10.9 billion).
A statement from Amazon said that MGM’s filmmaking history “complements the work of Amazon Studios, which has primarily focused on producing TV show programming”.
The deal will see an integration of MGM’s content onto Prime Video, with Amazon affirming its intention to “preserve MGM’s heritage and catalogue of films, and provide customers with greater access to these existing works”.
Mike Hopkins, SVP of Prime Video and Amazon Studios said: “MGM has a vast catalogue with more than 4,000 films, as well as 17,000 TV shows that have collectively won more than 180 Academy Awards and 100 Emmys.”
“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. It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.”
Some of MGM’s well known productions include the James Bond franchise, which includes new title ‘No Time To Die’ set to be released in October this year, Rocky, and Robocop, as well as TV series’ including Fargo, The Handmaid’s Tale and Vikings.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, told the annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday: “MGM has a vast, deep catalogue of much beloved intellectual property. With the talented people at MGM and the talented people at Amazon Studios, we can reimagine and develop that IP for the 21st century.”
Kevin Ulrich, chairman of the board of directors of MGM said: “It has been an honour to have been a part of the incredible transformation of Metro Goldwyn Mayer. To get here took immensely talented people with a true belief in one vision. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank the MGM team who have helped us arrive at this historic day.”
“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.”
Prime Video Australia head of content, Tyler Bern told Mumbrella last week about the plans for ongoing local content.
“We’ve seen from the data on our service, we’ve seen from linear ratings. We’ve seen from the shows that we’ve launched a date. Australian customers want local content. So that’s, that’s why we’re going to keep continuing our investment.”
This investment includes the addition of the seven new series, taking Prime Video’s total Australian original commissions to 14 since 2019, investing A$150 million in that time and creating 2,500 jobs.
The completion of the deal is subject to standard regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
Amazon was contacted for further details on how this deal will impact Amazon and MGM operations in Australia, though had no response at time of publishing.
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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