Amazon Prime Video to Get Thousands of Movies & TV Shows With MGM Purchase

MGM is now officially the property of Amazon. On Wednesday morning, Amazon announced that it had acquired MGM in a deal worth about $8.4 billion, marking yet another purchase of a studio by a larger tech company. There are quite a few questions from movie fans everywhere that will likely go unanswered in the short term, but we do know that this movie will provide a pretty substantial boost to Amazon’s Prime Video streaming platform, with thousands of classic titles now part of Amazon’s library of assets.

According to Variety, the purchase of MGM gives Amazon access more than 4,000 movies and 17,000 TV shows. Many of these will likely be added to Prime Video at some point in the not-too-distant future, but they could also be used to establish new film and TV franchises.

Titles that were specifically mentioned when the deal was announced include Rocky, Robocop, 12 Angry Men, Silence of the Lambs, Stargate, Tomb Raider, The Pink Panther, Basic Instinct, Legally Blonde, Moonstruck, Poltergeist, Thelma & Louise, The Magnificent Seven, Fargo, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Vikings.

Of course, one of the biggest assets at MGM’s disposal is the James Bond franchise, but the distribution rights for those films will continue to be controlled by Eon Productions.

“The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of [intellectual property] in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team,” Mike Hopkins, senior VP of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, said in a statement. “It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.”

“I am very proud that MGM’s Lion, which has long evoked the Golden Age of Hollywood, will continue its storied history, and the idea born from the creation of United Artists lives on in a way the founders originally intended, driven by the talent and their vision,” said MGM chairman Kevin Ulrich. “The opportunity to align MGM’s storied history with Amazon is an inspiring combination.”

What do you think about the new deal for MGM? What will it mean for some of the studio’s classic titles going forward? Let us know in the comments!