Amazon to acquire MGM, will gain rights to Bond films

Amazon has agreed to acquire MGM in an $8.45 billion (£5.98b) deal.

If approved by regulatory bodies, this will give Amazon and, specifically Amazon Prime Video, access to an enormous catalogue of past and future films.

As well as a library of over 4,000 movies, many of which modern classics, it includes the Bond franchise and the forthcoming addition, No Time to Die.

Other new movies scheduled to appear this year include The Addams Family 2, House of Gucci, and the currently untitled Paul Thomas Anderson project.

MGM is also the studio behind many Oscar winners, such as Silence of the Lambs, Raging Bull, Thelma & Louise, 12 Angry Men, and Poltergeist.

The deal won’t include some of the studio’s most loved oldies, however, with the likes of The Wizard of Oz and Singin’ in the Rain having been previously acquired by Ted Turner and Warner Media.

Still, Amazon Prime Video will undoubtedly be bolstered greatly by the move – not least by gaining exclusivity over the Bond films.

What’s the betting that No Time to Die hits the streaming platform soon after its theatrical release in September?

The streaming wars are heating up a notch. Your move Netflix, Disney+ and Apple TV+.