Amazon in talks to acquire MGM: home of James Bond

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

In another sign of the times, MGM, the former Metro Goldwyn Meyer, perhaps the most iconic Hollywood studio of all time, is all set to be acquired by Amazon. This comes via a report from The Information, excerpted by Deadline, which states the likely sale is worth somewhere under $10 billion. To note – control of MGM will give Amazon access to some of the biggest franchises of all time, including the Rocky series (including Creed), The Pink Panther, Robocop, and, of course, perhaps the biggest franchise of them all – The James Bond series. 

As a James Bond superfan (as anyone who's watched James Bond Revisited can tell), my feelings on this are mixed. While I'd love Amazon to revitalize some of the franchises (like with a Robocop series that doesn't suck), I'm terrified of the notion that we might get James Bond: the TV series, or something equally uninspired, like Q or Moneypenny spin-offs, etc. Here's hoping Amazon will stay committed to theatrical windows, with MGM and Eon devoted to a theatrical roll-out for the long-delayed No Time to Die, plus Ridley Scott's Gucci and more. If Amazon does something similar to Paramount Plus or Disney, sticking with 45 days windows, I'm all for it. I'd even be keen to see them make movies under the MGM banner for the streaming-only debuts, but let's leave the big guns in theaters, shall we?