Variety reports that Amazon is a week into negotiations on a deal to acquire MGM for $9 billion. There have been rumblings about the studio being up for sale for a while now, with various price tags floating around online. Ultimately, MGM could sell for anywhere between $5 billion and $10 billion, so it all depends on how the negotiations continue to play out.
Amazon currently has over 200 million Prime members worldwide, and Jeff Bezos recently revealed that around 175 million of them have streamed content over the past year.
With different studios and networks locking down their content on streaming services of their own, acquiring a brand like MGM would be huge for Amazon. James Bond is the obvious big win, but there are 4000 movie titles in total, with The Hobbit, Rocky, and RoboCop franchises among the highlights. Viewers can obviously enjoy those classics, while Amazon can expand on them with new movies and small screen spinoffs that keep people coming back on a weekly basis.
MGM also has over 17,000 TV episodes, including Stargate, Fargo, Vikings, and The Handmaid's Tale.
Needless to say, this could be a game-changer for Hollywood, and a major win for Amazon. Whether it pans out obviously remains to be seen, but 007 fans will no doubt be excited at the prospect of getting to see more of James Bond (the character's franchise has tonnes of small screen potential).
We'll keep you updated on this one as we learn more.