In the latest round of the already heated battle between streaming services, Amazon is reportedly in talks to buy Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) for the princely sum of $9 billion.
For that amount, Jeff Bezos’ company would manage to bag a rather hefty catalogue that would include – amongst others – Legally Blonde, Vikings, The Handmaid’s Tale, all of the Rocky films, all The Hobbit films, Stargate, Robocop, Poltergeist and all of the James Bond films.
Amazon throws its hat in the ring
According to a report on Variety, the is said to be being orchestrated by Mike Hopkins, senior VP of Amazon Studios and Prime Video, directly with MGM board chairman Kevin Ulrich, whose Anchorage Capital is a major MGM shareholder.
MGM has apparently been looking for a buyer since last year December and Amazon is the first company to throw its hat in the ring.
Amazon’s purchase would significantly bolster its offerings on Prime. Not only does MGM’s catalogue contain over 4,000 films and 17,000 hours’ worth of television, the studio also holds the rights to classics such as Gone With The Wind and North By North West.
Perhaps the jewel in the crown here is 007; James Bond is one of the most popular and profitable movie franchises of all time, having grossed over $7 billion over 24 films to date.
If the sale goes through, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that a lot of MGM films will disappear from other streaming services for good.