Disney and Netflix beware, Amazon spent $ 8.45 billion to buy MGM, the “father” of James Bond and 4000 other movies

In the official statement posted on May 26, Amazon has reached an agreement to buy the film production and distribution unit Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), “closing the deal” at the price of 8.45 billion USD. . This means that MGM’s huge movie library, including some 4,000 movies and TV series worth more than 17,000 hours of airtime, will soon be owned by Amazon. This is considered a strategy to help them attract more customers for Prime Video streaming service, while also putting pressure on direct competitors like Netflix or Disney+.

Amazon did not hesitate to spend nearly $8.5 billion to acquire MGM to diversify its movie inventory and attract more customers to use its Prime Video streaming service.

In nearly a century of operation, MGM has devoted to Hollywood and world cinema many classic works. The most prominent of which is the James Bond franchise – agent 007, which has lasted from 1962 until now with 25 films and has shown no sign of stopping despite having changed the main actor many times. It is estimated that this franchise alone has brought in $ 8 billion in revenue for MGM.

In addition, MGM also owns many other popular names such as 12 Angry Men, Basic Instinct, Creed, Robocop, Rocky, Silence of the Lambs, Tomb Raider or Vikings. That’s not to mention some outstanding unscripted reality shows like The Voice and Shark Tank. An Amazon representative said the acquisition will help ” provide customers with MGM’s amazing film inventory, while strengthening the studio itself to continue the stories they are cherishing for the big screen.” small “.

In recent times, Amazon’s movie business has made certain strides, but it is still not too impressive compared to the massive empire that billionaire Jeff Bezos has built despite still being “pumped” billions of dollars. each year. Of the more than 200 million Prime Video subscribers worldwide, only about 175 million actually used the service last year. Therefore, expanding the movie library more will be a strategy to help them bring more choices to the audience, and at the same time attract more new customers.

James Bond is one of the most prominent and popular names of MGM in nearly a decade of operation.

Information about the deal between Amazon and MGM has surfaced since mid-May. Previously, Variety had revealed that Mike Hopkins, vice president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, personally negotiated this acquisition. On May 24, the Wall Street Journal confirmed that the two sides had “closed the deal” successfully, 2 days before Amazon officially confirmed it. Previously, MGM was owned by a series of privately held companies, including Anchorage Capital Group, Highland Capital Management and Solus Alternative Asset Management.

This is a bold move, but not too surprising from Amazon, especially in the context that major studios are aggressively diversifying their movie inventory to compete with Netflix and Disney+. Previously, AT&T revealed that they were in talks with WarnerMedia to merge their two streaming platforms – HBO Max and Discovery Plus. If successful, they will create the second largest media company by revenue in the world, just behind the “giant” Disney.

According to TheVerge