Originally announced back in May of last year, Amazon has been working out a deal to acquire MGM for a massive $8.45 billion, and we’ve learned today that the deal has closed.
The plan? Amazon is looking to do two main things. First, “preserve MGM’s heritage and catalog of films.” And second, we can expect many reboots of popular MGM properties.
Amazon announced today, “The storied, nearly century-old studio—with more than 4,000 film titles, 17,000 TV episodes, 180 Academy Awards, and 100 Emmy Awards—will complement Prime Video and Amazon Studios’ work in delivering a diverse offering of entertainment choices to customers.”
“MGM has a nearly century-long legacy of producing exceptional entertainment, and we share their commitment to delivering a broad slate of original films and television shows to a global audience,” Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, said in a statement shared by Variety. “We welcome MGM employees, creators, and talent to Prime Video and Amazon Studios, and we look forward to working together to create even more opportunities to deliver quality storytelling to our customers.”
Chris Brearton, chief operating officer of MGM, added: “We are excited for MGM and its bounty of iconic brands, legendary films and television series, and our incredible team and creative partners to join the Prime Video family. MGM has been responsible for the creation of some of the most well-known and critically acclaimed films and television series of the past century. We look forward to continuing that tradition as we head into this next chapter, coming together with the great team at Prime Video and Amazon Studios to provide audiences with the very best in entertainment for years to come.”
Again, we can expect to see MGM’s past titles find an exclusive home on the Amazon Prime streaming service, with Amazon Studios likely creating a wealth of original content based on some of the more popular properties in that legendary library. Franchises under the MGM banner include James Bond, RoboCop, Rocky, The Hobbit, and The Addams Family.
One of the big horror properties that Amazon has now acquired as part of the MGM deal? Killer Klowns from Outer Space, which MGM has been dragging their feet on rebooting for decades. MGM also has The Silence of the Lambs, recently launching the “Clarice” series. Other MGM properties include Poltergeist, Amityville Horror, Pumpkinhead, and Basic Instinct.
It’s also worth noting that MGM owns Orion Pictures, which was recently relaunched with genre movies including The Belko Experiment, The Prodigy, Child’s Play, and Gretel & Hansel.
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