Update, Thursday, March 17, 10:16 a.m.: When Jeff Bezos’s companies aren’t spending money on shooting Pete Davidson into the face of the sun, they’re acquiring legacy studios. Today, Amazon announced its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM has closed. Per Variety, the announcement comes two days after the European Union’s antitrust regulator approved the deal on the grounds of — get this — “MGM’s content cannot be considered as must-have.†Come on, guys. MGM’s only just recovering from the shame of bringing Jared Leto’s Paolo Gucci into the world; you didn’t have to roast it like that. Is the Channing Tatum dog movie Dog not a “must-have� As of today, the FTC still has not formally approved the deal in the United States. Vulture reached out to the FTC for comment.
Original story follows.
We toyed around with a headline of Big Company Bought by Bigger Company, but why not just cut to the chase? As rumored over the past few months, Amazon has bought MGM Studios for a whopping $8.45 billion, or roughly the same amount of money MacKenzie Scott donated to charitable organizations last year. Variety reports that, under this merger agreement, Amazon will now have more than 4,000 new movies and 17,000 new TV shows to add to its catalogue on its Prime Video streaming service. Some of MGM’s most prominent titles include the James Bond, Pink Panther, and Rocky franchises, in addition to a general treasure trove from the golden age of Hollywood filmmaking. In a statement, Amazon promised to “preserve MGM’s heritage and catalogue of films,†with a spokesperson adding that the merger is “very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.†Maybe this will finally be the catalyst for Prime Video giving its interface a facelift.