AMAZON BUYING MGM
What the blockbuster deal means for Bond and beyond.
When Amazon snapped up MGM Studios for an extraordinary $8.45bn last month, eyebrows were justifiably raised around Hollywood. This was, by some distance, a Silicon Valley giant’s biggest move into the film industry to date, with Amazon acquiring a library of some 4,000 films, including beloved characters such as Rocky, RoboCop and of course, Bond.
007 stewards Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were quick to calm those feeling shaken by the possibility of Bond’s straight-to-streaming future, saying: “We are committed to continuing to make James Bond films for the worldwide theatrical audience” in a swiftly released statement. Under Eon Productions, Broccoli and Wilson jointly own Bond with MGM, and crucially have final say on all 007-related matters. Unless the pair have a change of heart, Bond’s big-screen future is secure (for now).
Beyond MI5’s finest, there are reasons to be concerned. At a shareholders’ meeting, Bond-villainalike Jeff Bezos (corporate monopoly, own space travel company) claimed the acquisition of a studio as iconic as MGM was driven by the desire to “reimagine and develop [their] IP for the 21st century”. It’s a dispiriting statement on two fronts: both the coldly corporate re-framing of some of the most culturally significant works of art of our lifetime as ‘intellectual property’, and the way it ignores the duty Amazon now has to preserve almost 100 years of film history.
There are unanswered questions in this regard: will the likes of The Graduate, or the The Wizard Of Oz ever make their way to physical media again? Will repertory cinemas be permitted to play such movies? And for those films without IP-mining possibilities, how motivated will Amazon be to make them easily accessible on Prime Video, or otherwise?
There are potential wins for audiences. Bond films aren’t cheap to make, but with Amazon bankrolling future entries, money will surely be no object. Dormant franchises such as The Pink Panther and Stargate are ripe for a return to screens if handled properly. And the streamer, to its credit, has largely supported cinemas with exclusive theatrical runs for its original movies. However things shake out, for Amazon it’s a Prime time to be in the film business. JF