Amazon Buys MGM, Studio Behind James Bond, for $8.45 Billion (variety.com) 121
James Bond has a new home: Amazon and MGM announced a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire MGM for $8.45 billion. From a report: MGM, founded in 1924, complements Amazon Studios, which has primarily focused on producing TV programming, the companies said. Amazon will help "preserve MGM's heritage and catalog of films," and provide customers with greater access to these existing works, the companies said. For Amazon, snapping up MGM -- which has more than 4,000 movies and 17,000 TV shows in its catalog -- is a way to supercharge its Prime Video service with a slew of well-known entertainment properties. In addition, Amazon is anticipating being able to tap into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer properties like the Pink Panther, Rocky, and, yes, the 007 franchises for new originals.
"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 announcing the deal. "It's very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling." Hopkins noted that MGM productions collectively have won more than 180 Oscars and 100 Emmys. The studio has roughly 800 employees globally.
"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 announcing the deal. "It's very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling." Hopkins noted that MGM productions collectively have won more than 180 Oscars and 100 Emmys. The studio has roughly 800 employees globally.
Stargate. please more SG-1 (Score:4, Interesting)
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Oh, we can dream... They should do something with that property, but I'm not convinced Amazon will. They have a mixed record on sci-fi stuff. The Boys is going well but they cancelled The Tick.
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Lol, Pink Panther/Rocky/007, couldn't care less for those. Yes Stargate Please!
Funny thing, like 2-3 months ago I rewatched SG1 on Netflix, then really wanted to rewatch Atlantis and Universe, but it wasn't available to stream anywhere, legally at least. So I figured I'd buy box set with all 3 from Amazon on DVD. Haven't watched anything on DVD in many years, but looks like my masterplan has worked. I'll take all the credit :)
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Pink Panther will never work without Peter Sellers.
Stargate can work with new actors though.
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Pink Panther will never work without Peter Sellers.
Absolutely. I think Steve Martin proved that.
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"Though he greatly dared, he more greatly failed"?
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The Tick never survives. There have been several attempts to bring it to tv. Never works out. It's like its cursed.
I would love to see more StarGate. Not Universe! To me, SG-1 and SG-A are a couple of good scifi shows that have held up over the years. Others being old Star Trek, and old Doctor Who, Tom Baker era.
I tried to watch Babylon 5 the other day. My brain just couldn't get into it. It's not bad, just didn't age well. Not true with SG-1. It was a great show that didn't take itself to
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I would have loved another five seasons of Universe.
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I would have loved another five seasons of Universe.
I think the only hope Universe fans have is if they invent a AI that can ingest old episodes along with episodes of similar shows and create new ones digitally. So for Universe they could train it with the existing episodes of Universe along with Melrose Place to help it get the new plots correct.
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That AI is a long ways away, but we should take it incrementally. We could easily have an AI that trains on a bunch of episodes to learn the characters, and then replaces new actors with old actors, including all their mannerisms. The next step after that is to skip needing a new actor to model them on. At that point, they can make live-action versions of things like Star Trek: The Animated Series as well as audio shows like the Big Finish Doctor Who stories (as well as reconstruct the lost episodes).
Get
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Several things I loved about SG-1.
The first being the light heartedness of the whole show. There where serous episodes, of course, but really the show didn't take itself to seriously. There was lots of humor and poking fun at itself in several episodes.
The second thing I love was we where the good guys. The Stargate teams I mean. Even after we brought in the Chinese and the Russians, we where still the good guys. There was that distrust to be had between the nationalities but in the end, we where
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Completely agree. There were no good guys in SGU. They were all either completely broken or weak. That works when you have a few characters that fit that mold but not when it's the bulk. Especially when you are expanding on a franchise like stargate
The tone was also not fitting at all for a stargate show. If the creators wanted to try something different, they should have tried to start a new franchise.
I'd also feel they saw the bleakness and despair of BSG and wanted to copy it to show they could writ
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It was the weakest of the shows, but it really needed one more season to wrap up nicely. It would be nice if shows with a continuing storyline had a contract that gave them a two-hour TV movie if the series isn't renewed so that they could at least tie up the main loose ends.
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I would have loved another five seasons of Universe.
Universe just found its compelling footing for me when it got canned. Didn't help that "sy-fy" seemed to be bouncing it all over the schedule so they could air more wrestling events and my work schedule was so crazy variable. I remember watching sporadically and starting to really like the characters and then hearing news that it was cancelled.
I felt like it had the potential to give a Battlestar feel, but, by the time it came to fruition, the powers that be had decidedly moved away from doing a new compe
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Carter! I can see my house!!!
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I tried to watch Babylon 5 the other day. My brain just couldn't get into it. It's not bad, just didn't age well.
The first season could be a bit rough. But the same could be said of STTNG. And it didn't age well either. I watched B5 start to finish a year ago and watched STTNG, Voyager, Enterprise and am watching DS9 currently. B5 aged better than STTNG and was a better show than DS9 in all honesty. Voyager is a bit annoying when you watch a bunch of episodes in a row as they seem to have given up on varying the technobabble. "reroute power to structural integrity" would be a good drinking game when watching it.
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+1, with feeling!
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Well, the good news on that is that the guy running the shows (Brad Wright) has already been working on a new series and he's in charge of it, so unless they yank the whole thing away from him, we should see more of what we like instead of Bezos PC sycophants woking it up.
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Richard Dean Anderson is getting way too old, the farscape kid (ben browder) made for a terrible replacement,
I would like to see more SG episodes but not SG-1. That show is over, let it rest. Take the idea and attitude SG-1 and come up with a new show.
RDA was the heart and soul of SG-1. The way he played off Christopher Judge as the straight man was perfect. Ben Browder's acting style worked great in Farscape, but didn't translate well in to SG-1. It just didn't fit in well with the rest of the cast that had been in their roles for 8 years. He had a few moments, but most of the interaction was forced i
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You're probably right, but at least bring back Claudia Black. She was the only reason that I ever watched 'Pitch Black', and the bastards killed her off in the first 20 minutes.
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I think what we're most likely to get is completely new version. If they do it right, it will be awesome.
Maybe they need to redo MacGyver first. Oh, wait, they already did that, so they have an actor. (I just found out about the new series when looking it up for this post; I hope it's not horrible.)
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I fear we might get more SG-Universe instead of SG-1.
(Yes, I know some people really liked Universe, and good for them. But in the SG-1 fandom, we can at least call it divisive).
Missing IP (Score:3)
Well, Ted Turner bought MGM back in the 80's and sold it back but kept the IP. So I'm not sure how much IP is actually available to Amazon. Certainly anything created after 1986 I guess.
[John]
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It's not clear to me exactly how that works. Turner supposedly bought the rights to all the pre-1986 films, but MGM still has ownership of the pre-1986 Bond films, despite them having owned them since 1981 when they bought UA.
Between the post-1986 films, and the stuff that MGM seems to have kept in spite of the buyout, it seems to me that MGM has the lion's share of valuable MGM content.
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Re:Missing IP (Score:4, Insightful)
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Bond used to be a male power fantasy, but he doesn't really work any more.
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Bond used to be a male power fantasy, but he doesn't really work any more.
That's where Movie Bond is different from Book Bond. Book Bond frequently has no idea what he's doing and no idea how he's going to do it.
The books are, however, still pretty macho male dominant with the women as accessories. That didn't change.
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I enjoyed the BBC radio play versions, based on the books. As you say, very different to the movies.
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I haven't read the books, but the old Bond movies certainly had style. Not only was the hero stylish, but the villains, too. Even a lot of the villain sidekicks ended up being iconic because of their style. But you can sell style only so many times before it gets old. Also, when these movies were new, our society was different. Damsel-in-distress kind of plots were acceptable, as well as female character names such as "Pussy Galore". Needless to say that didn't age well. However, if you take all this away,
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Sir Roger Moore was the best Bond, followed by Sean Connery. They were all downhill after that.
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Hey, that's MY IP!!!
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You clearly misunderstand how the Internet works. It is we who have been using your router all this time. We've been freeloading off of you! Hahahahaha!!11!1!!
Sorry about all the beer porn [reddit.com] viewing. Hope that's not illegal in your country.
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Hopefully It Means Better Content in Amazon Canada (Score:4, Interesting)
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Is Canada one of those countries that says Netflix must have a certain percent of domestic production? That would certainly clobber tons of Hollywood junk just to pare it down to a mere 10x domestic production.
Stop Bill C-10 (Score:2, Informative)
Not yet, but the government is currently trying to pass just such a law (Bill C-10). It would mandate limits on non-Canadian content, tax all streaming services and even regulate social media feeds. If you are Canadian, take action now [openmedia.org]
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We are back to the studio system in streaming. Although it started off innocently enough with Hulu, each studio now wants consumers to pay individually for their content. No one is going to sell to each other. So for Amazon not to die it has to
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I wouldn't count on this improving the situation. Part of the reason that Netfix/Amazon don't have the same content in Canada is that there is Canadian broadcaster that already holds the exclusive rights to that content. I guess the purchase of MGM will increase Amazon offerings in Canada that doesn't have a distribution deal in place though (but I would assume that is a rather limited amount of the MGM content).
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Just don't because why? (Score:3)
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Shit, you found my selfies!
Obligatory... (Score:1)
"The name's Bezos, Jeff Bezos."
Re:Obligatory... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Obligatory... (Score:5, Funny)
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What's to say he doesn't already? After all, it is a secret base.
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He's already building his space fleet, and he's got the yacht and the hot helicopter-pilot girlfriend. All he needs is a secret base inside a volcano...
Well, there is a comparison to be made between New Shepherd [spacenews.com] and Dr Evil's rocket.
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I'm pretty sure Bezos would the primary antagonist in a Bond film...
It would be hilarious if Jeff Bezos started overruling the producers and writers on future Bond films.
"This guy you've cast as the villain, he's obviously just misunderstood! Can you make him more likable, maybe give him an Asian reporter girlfriend? And in the end he should win against Bond."
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Idk man, his escape rocket is just going to land about 20 feet from where it started.
But if Mr. Bean plays James Bond and Mike Myers plays Jeff Bezos, then I'm all for it.
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Thank the Fed (Score:1)
This is where the real covid stimulus went. Trillions and trillions. We should claim equity. If we did, Wall Street would truly be public.
Translation: Time to buy & rip your favorites (Score:4, Insightful)
... before James Bond, and Heaven-knows-how-many other IPs, go to live behind a potential streaming-only paywall.
As someone who prefers to own my media, whether digital or tangible, and who'd rather support creators than pirate ... I really hope people start realizing the value of ownership before opportunities to own* films, music, shows, etc. go away entirely.
*or, for the pedantic, "opportunities to license media for private home viewing/listening"
Separate Prime Video Subscription (Score:5, Insightful)
My fear is that if they get enough content to be really compelling, they may create a separate Prime Video subscription just like they did with Prime Music. I like this as a side benefit to our Prime membership, but I don't know that we would pay extra for the video content.
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Agree. It's not just getting the content, but the money they've sunk into it that they need to get a return on.
The MGM lion will now be bald (Score:3)
Headline incorrect....deal is not yet closed (Score:2)
Amazon has anti-trust still hanging over this so this deal is not a slam dunk yet.
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Amazon has anti-trust still hanging over this so this deal is not a slam dunk yet.
That's called "regulatory approval" which is a bucket term for conditions outside of every board's control, and is one of several considerations which must be met for the contract to be fully executed. The ink is drying, the terms are agreed upon, and thus is considered finalized. This is how contracts work.
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Amazon needed better content, so this makes sense (Score:2)
When internet based subscription streaming required hard to obtain technical expertise and infrastructure, the competitive edge went to Netflix, Amazon, and Google. The content creators and owners were content to license their content and get paid that way. But now Disney and Warner and the rest are standing up their own services and using their content libraries as the selling point. That left Netflix, Amazon, and Google with lower quality content that no one was rushing to fork over $15 a month to have
New Stargate shows/movies? (Score:1)
Great, but what we all really want to know is if this means we'll get new Stargate shows and movies!
Next Bond villain (Score:2)
Who cares? (Score:2)
James Bond was fun in the 60s. Now it's, er, rather dated. So, who cares? More reboots of reboots of reboots?
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Bond isn't fully owned by MGM - EON? (Score:2)
Wonder what happens to agreements with EON in this?
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MGM joint owns the copyrights.
I.e. the distribution rights. Which is just to say that you have to cut MGM (and now Amazon) in on any deal to show Bond movies. Sort of like the way the mob owns certain regional markets.
Sounds like a perfect fit for Amazon's business model.
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Trademarks?
Should we be allowing (Score:3)
A Plea For Original Content. (Score:2)
Engulf and devour (Score:1)
A satire... (Score:2)
http://babylonbee.com/news/ama... [babylonbee.com]
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saying that "insiders" valued MGM at 5 billion and that the over valuation was because Bezos hates Mango Mussolini and MGM owns the rights to the Apprentice - including outtakes where allegedly the orange one made all kinds of racist statements on camera. I guess we'll see.
The simpler explanation is Amazon thought it was worth the money and Colbert likes calling Trump racist.
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Were already almost at the end of May.
Trump has been out of office about 5 months and he's still banned from social media.
I would have thought he'd have been pretty much forgotten by most people by now....?
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Really?
I mean, I've not heard anything from him really, on anything.
No one is really paying attention, if he is saying anything....so....really?
He's gone...get over it, you won, move on.
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He has his web site, but it's only being linked to about 2000 times a week apparently. He could go on Gab and Parler, but refuses unless they pay him. He could be on Fox and OAN any time he wants, but is insisting on some exorbitant fee for each appearance. He's pretty much sabotaged his own cult.
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And an orange [youtube.com].
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Release the Apricot Agitator's racist rants please!
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Sadly it won't change anything. The republicans already waited 5 days to tell Marjorie Taylor Greene to stop comparing wearing a mask to the holocaust.
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Well, to be fair, she's from Georgia. Maybe they are slaughtering mask wearers down there.
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> Release the Apricot Agitator's racist rants please!
Would you settle for Biden making racist comments instead?
Won't have any effect (Score:2, Insightful)
Racist Apprentice outtakes or Russian pee-pee tapes. Doesn't matter. People that love him will still love him (probably more). People that hate him will still hate him (probably more). People that secretly hate him but play along because they need the votes of those that love him will continue quietly dying inside.
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American politics 101:
Axioms:
1) only two options can exist
2) the two options are opposites, by definition
Deduction:
your guy racist my guy not racist { by (1) and (2) }
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Damnit Slashdot.
your guy racist {bidirectional implication here} my guy not racist
Re:Colbert had a segment about this (Score:4, Insightful)
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I can provide ample examples of Biden being racist
Not as many as Trump, who spewed that kind of shit on a daily basis for the last 15 years.
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In 1973, he was sued for discriminating against African-American renters. Ever since the 90s, he's called for the Central Park Five to be put to death despite their innocence. He effectively spawned the Obama birther movement.
He's a fascist for what he's said and done, and you're a fascist for not just ignoring his history but deliberately gaslighting us.
Also, I have fewer digits than you, so: Shut the fuck up, you dumbass whippersnapper. You know fuck-all about this world and its history. Get the fuck off
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Or you know a Company with a competitive streaming platform, wants to have some major studios in its pocket, as to add a bunch of content without having to pay for the studio's license. Bringing in a lot of employees who can create original content for said streaming service. Diversity its media market to allow Amazon Original to be played at traditional methods as well (assuming movie theaters open again). Use of IP for its own marketing and brand awareness.
Amazon probably had to pay a lot more, to preven
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