Amazon Snares MGM Studios For $8.45 Billion: What It Means For Its 179M Subscribers

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Amazon has pulled off one of the most game-changing deals in the entertainment industry. It has bought the legendary MGM Studios for an expensive $8.45 Billion, a deal that seems overpriced to trade pundits. However, when observed from the perspective of the content properties that Amazon will own as a result of the deal, it comes across as ample value for the moolah it will spend.

MGM, or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, is one of Hollywood’s oldest film studios. Even though it is going through a difficult time financially, MGM is venerable and legit royalty in the film industry. Founded nearly a century ago, in 1924, MGM owns a massive library of 4,000+ titles and 17,000 hours of TV programming. Additionally, it has some high-profile content in the works, along with rights to prestigious properties. All that will be Amazon’s, once the exchange of ownership is complete.

Here is all that Amazon will gain possession of when it finally has MGM Studios in its kitty –

1. 4000+ film titles and 17000 hours worth of TV programming
2. MGM’s stake in the Bond franchise, which it co-owns with Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of Eon Productions, including the upcoming No Time To Die. Amazon will be able to introduce the entire Bond series on its streaming service, a definite advantage in the race to grab most subscribers.
3. The Rocky and Creed films franchise – another lucrative and prestigious property. Amazon can also milk the franchise for possible reboots, spin-offs and TV series, including a prequel series that Sylvester Stallone is mighty interested in getting off the ground.
4. The Hobbit film trilogy, which will sit nicely with Amazon’s upcoming ambitious and pricey Lord Of The Rings series.
5. The upcoming G.I. Joe franchise spinoff Snake Eyes, which has already been creating all the right buzz.
6. A vast roster of hit movies including Silence Of The Lambs, Legally Blonde, The Pink Panther franchise, the Tomb Raider franchise, Poltergeist franchise, Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Addams Family, and many more.
7. Huge library of classic films such as Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz, The Apartment, West Side Story, Ben-Hur, among a host of others.
8. 17000 episodes of TV and streaming shows, including Shark Tank, the hit Fargo series, The Voice, Survivor, Stargate, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Clarice, Willow, among others
9. TV royalty ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, its ongoing and upcoming seasons. MGM has also bought the rights to Margaret Atwood’s The Testament, sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. The rights will now go to Amazon, to be developed into a follow-up series.
10. The Vikings series, which is an unqualified hit for the studio. Amazon will be able to create unlimited spin-offs of Vikings if it so wants.

All of the above, and much much more, will potentially land on Amazon’s streaming service, Prime Video. The massive library of content is a sizeable advantage for Amazon Prime Video, as it engages in a streaming war with Netflix and Disney Plus Hotstar to grab maximum subscribers. The combined entity of WarnerMedia and Discovery is another content gaint that will soon be breathing down the backs of the top three streamers.

The MGM Holdings buy is an acquisition that will give Amazon a headstart in consolidating its position in streaming, not to say an alluring proposition for its almost 180 million subscribers.