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Amazon acquires MGM Studios for $8.5 billion [UPDATED]

The potential deal would give Amazon the rights to Rocky and James Bond, among other properties.

Donovan Erskine

May 26, 2021 6:18 AM

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UPDATED (May 26, 2021, @ 6:18 a.m. PT): Today, both Amazon and Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer (MGM) announced the settlement of a deal in which Amazon will acquire MGM and its film empire for the previously rumored $8.45 billion USD. With the merger and acquisition, Amazon will gain access to MGM's vast film catalogue, including franchises such as James Bond, Fargo, Robocop, and many, many more. 

"MGM has nearly a century of filmmaking history and complements the work of Amazon Studios, which has primarily focused on producing TV show programming," Amazon's press statement reads. "Amazon will help preserve MGM’s heritage and catalog of films, and provide customers with greater access to these existing works. Through this acquisition, Amazon would empower MGM to continue to do what they do best: great storytelling."

Original Story: As the biggest companies in entertainment work to create the ultimate media empire, we’ve seen numerous acquisitions as they look to gobble up content for their respective streaming services. This was the driving force behind Disney’s acquisition of Fox’s entertainment branch, as well as the recently announced merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery. Now, Amazon is looking to add to its arsenal as reports state the company is nearing a deal to acquire MGM Studios for $8.5 billion.

This report comes by way of The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news on May 24. MGM Studios has been searching for a potential buyer, and it may have found one in Amazon. The talks between MGM and Amazon, which have been entirely private, have the former going at a rate of $8.5 billion. If the WSJ’s source is indeed correct, we could hear an official announcement as soon as this week.

There would be a lot of ramifications of Amazon acquiring MGM Studios, but the biggest would be the slew of entertainment franchises that would be under Amazon’s ownership. This includes Rocky, Survivor, The Voice, and much more. MGM is also a co-owner of the James Bond franchise. If the deal goes through, Amazon will surely use the newly acquired properties to beef up its offerings on Prime Video.

Amazon is looking to become a formidable opponent to streaming giants such as Netflix and Disney Plus, which is likely a driving force behind the negotiations with MGM. Amazon Studios also distributes a lot of films theatrically. In the world of major corporation acquisitions, we recently saw AT&T announce that it would be merging WarnerMedia’s business with Discovery.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_