Amazon has confirmed that it has completed its acquisition of MGM for $8.5 billion, per Variety. The original offer stood at a cool $9 billion. The sale process began last May and has been undergoing analysis by trade regulators since then.
A recent review from the European Commission stated that the services of MGM and the retail-but-also-lots-of-other-stuff giant have “limited” overlap, also concluding that “overall MGM is not among the top production studios.” Now, the merger has gone unchallenged by the Federal Trade Commission in the U.S., signaling a go-ahead for the deal.
While Amazon Studios has been building a diverse library of original content for its Prime Video platform, including recent Oscar-nominated fare like Sound Of Metal and Being The Ricardos, it’s impossible to compare it to the back catalog of a company founded in 1924. A statement from Amazon reads, “The storied, nearly century-old studio—with more than 4,000 film titles, 17,000 TV episodes, 180 Academy Awards, and 100 Emmy Awards—will complement Prime Video and Amazon Studios’ work in delivering a diverse offering of entertainment choices to customers.”
James Bond stands out as MGM’s flagship film property, though that was not enough for the European Commission to name the studio as a major player, even considering No Time To Die’s strong box office performance last year. Other recent feature releases include Dog, Cyrano, Licorice Pizza, and House Of Gucci.
The studio is also the home of the Rocky series, which has a third Creed movie in the works. On the TV side, MGM has produced everything from prestige dramas Fargo and The Handmaid’s Tale to reality favorites like Survivor, Shark Tank, and the Real Housewives franchise.
The news of Amazon’s MGM buyout follows the recent merging of WarnerMedia and Discovery, which will be combining its streaming platforms HBO Max and Discovery+.