Amazon approached the studio behind the James Bond franchise with the idea of acquisition for $9 billion not so long ago — according to insider info.
As of now, MGM is among those studios that have yet to be gobbled up by large conglomerates like Disney or Warner Bros.
MGM has also been hit hard by the ongoing pandemic because movie-goers couldn’t visit cinemas in major markets (Europe and the US), leading the studio to postpone the release of the latest Bond installment four times the past year.
As such, Netflix already talked about studio officials acquiring the streaming rights of the latest Bond film but the idea was later abandoned by Netflix as MGM’s asking price was too high.
The Anchorage Capital hedge fund is MGM’s biggest shareholder. As a matter of fact, it started paying for the studio’s debt over a decade ago as a bankruptcy plan.
In the first quarter of 2021 MGM’s reported revenue was $403 million while its net income was $29 million.
As far as the acquisition process goes, both Amazon and MGM declined to comment.
As you may know, the global retail giant is in the midst of revitalizing its entertainment plans starting with the return of Jeff Backburn, former senior manager, to run a new “Global Media & Entertainment organization” within Amazon.
Also, last year, the giant spent roughly $11 billion on content and media creation and licensing to improve the Amazon Prime experience and their own stats as well. The company also acquired various broadcast and licensing deals with such organizations as the NFL to broadcast Thursday Night Football.
