Earlier this month, news about Amazon acquiring the iconic U.S. movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. for $9 billion was making rounds on the internet. However, at the time, none of the companies had confirmed or commented on the matter.
Now, Amazon has announced that it has agreed to acquire MGM’s entire backlog of content dating back almost a century. MGM has over 4,000 films and 17,000 hours of television shows and with it, Amazon hopes to improve its current on-demand video offerings.
Over the past few years, Amazon has heavily invested into its own Amazon Studios to create original shows and films exclusive for Prime video. This acquisition will position the platform to compete with other streaming platforms, such as Netflix and Disney+. According to Amazon, MGM’s catalog will complement the Amazon studios. Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon Studios said,
The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team. It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.
However, note that this announcement is just the start of the acquisition process. The process is performed by US anti-trust regulators that could regularly take years to complete.
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