It’s official: legendary movie studio MGM is now part of Amazon. This mega-merger has been in the works for a while and there was some thought it could be challenged by the FTC, but that has not happened. This puts the massive James Bond franchise squarely under the Amazon umbrella. So what does that mean? Will we see the next 007 movie on Prime Video streaming? Doubtful.
This gives Amazon Studios and Prime Video access to the nearly century-old studio’s vast library of movies and television, along with franchises including James Bond, Rocky, and The Addams Family.
Here are some of the bullet points, according to Deadline. And yes, one of them has to do with the future of Bond as a theatrical entity…
- In terms of production, Amazon is excited by MGM’s slate and doesn’t anticipate changes in release dates or on projects that are in progress.
- Amazon is not planning to make all MGM content exclusive to Prime Video.
- On theatrical, Amazon intends to continue supporting theatrical release, not as a one-size-fits-all proposition but something to be determine case by case.
- There are no plans to make changes to the Bond franchise.
This acquisition could help make it easier for subscribers to swallow the newly-increased Prime Video subscriber fee of $139/year, and could give Amazon an edge over rivals at Netflix and Apple.
So excited to share that MGM is now part of Prime Video and Amazon Studioshttps://t.co/M3eR5C0kjJ
— MGM Studios (@mgmstudios) March 17, 2022
