Poor old MGM. One of the oldest, greatest names in Hollywood. Home to franchises like Rocky and the James Bond movies. A catalog that includes Basic Instinct, Poltergeist, Stargate, The Silence of the Lambs, Robocop, Thelma And Louise, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Raging Bull. Yet for decades it has been in a state of turmoil and bankruptcy. No longer, as MGM has a new Daddy. The richest Daddy of them all. MGM has officially joined Amazon.
Joining MGM with Prime Video and Amazon Studios creates something of an entertainment powerhouse following the $8.5 billion acquisition by Jeff Bezos’ company. MGM has a back catalog of more than 4,000 film titles and 17,000 TV episodes.
In their history, they have won 180 Academy Awards and 100 Emmy Awards. This merging of new technology upstart with the venerable old man of Hollywood brings Amazon Studios a degree of proper Tinseltown cachet.
MGM was formed by Marcus Loew by combining Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures into a single company. It was well-known for having the biggest and best stable of stars on contract. Its slogan was “more stars than there are in heaven” and its strategy soon saw it become one of Hollywood’s “big five” film studios.
MGM also owned film studios, movie lots, movie theaters, and technical production facilities. It divested itself of the Loews movie theater chain in the 1960s and diversified into television production. After changing hands several times, including through those of Ted Turner of CNN, in 2010 MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and reorganization.
The completion of the transaction is now possible after the deal received clearance from the EU’s antitrust regulator. Look for the MGM back catalog to start appearing on Amazon Prime as soon as existing deals expire.
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