6 billion pounds – shaken not stirred

Amazon has officially announced its deal to buy the famous Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (“MGM”) studios for nearly £6 billion. MGM is the home of the James Bond franchise, the Rocky and Creed franchises, and classic film Singin’ In The Rain.

The deal includes MGM’s intellectual property rights, and will also provide Amazon Prime’s streaming service access to a huge range of content, covering various genres with approximately 21,000 new films and TV shows (if Amazon decides to make them available in this way). Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon Studies, Mike Hopkins said: “The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of Intellectual Property in the deep catalogue that we plan to re-imagine and develop together with MGM's talented team”. It is clear then, that Amazon sees reboots and sequels as a key part of its entertainment program moving forward.

This deal gives Amazon a huge amount more content, and that will inevitably bring more competition from the likes of Netflix, Disney + and Apple TV.

It is unknown when Amazon will finalise the acquisition, which is subject to regulatory review by the European Union and the US to ensure that competition laws are not broken. If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.