Amazon Reportedly in Talks to Purchase MGM Studios

American company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, abbreviated as MGM, is one of the world's oldest movie studios, with a history spanning about a century. It is behind, among many other iconic films, the Rocky and Creed franchises, along with the James Bond franchise.

Amazon is "weeks into" negotiations to purchase Metro Goldwyn Mayer for about $9 billion, according to a Monday report by Variety.

The deal is reportedly being orchestrated by a senior VP of Amazon Studios and Prime Video, Mike Hopkins, who is in direct contact with MGM board chairman Kevin Ulrich.

Earlier, reports started to buzz and speculate about a possible sum for the deal, estimated to be between $7 and $10 billion.

Established in 1924, MGM is one of the world's oldest film studios. The corporation indicated its readiness to be acquired in December 2020, rolling out a price tag of around $5 billion at the time. With over 4,000 film titles, the company suggested that a buyer would own one of the “deepest libraries” of premium media content.

Security personnel stand outside the Santa Monica-based headquarters of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio 15 January, 2001, controlled by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian. One of Hollywood's oldest movie studios, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), may be on the block for a whopping seven billion USD, insiders reportedly said 15 January 2002. Kerkorian is reportedly seeking bids and has hired investment banking company Goldman Sachs to handle the proposed sale.

© AFP 2023 / MIKE NELSON

Among the titles are the James Bond, Hobbit, and Rocky/Creed movies, and one could also discover 17,000 episodes of TV shows such as “The Handmaid’s Tale", "Teen Wolf", “Vikings" and “In the Heat of the Night".

Amazon is enjoying over 200 million Prime members around the world, after reporting 175 million Prime video viewers the previous year.