Politics
New James Bond film could come out on Amazon Prime Video after £6bn deal to buy the rights
THE new James Bond film could come out on Amazon Prime Video after a £6billion deal to buy the rights.
Amazon’s move for MGM Studios could also see the streaming service “re-imagine and develop” the 007 franchise.
Amazon Prime has bought the rights to James Bond[/caption]
Daniel Craig’s final outing as the spy — delayed five times by Covid and a troubled production — is currently scheduled to open in UK cinemas on September 30.
MGM bosses reportedly tried selling No Time To Die, the 25th Bond instalment, to both Amazon and Netflix for £600million last year, but were offered just £283million.
As well as Bond, Amazon gets its hands on a library of 4,000 films and 17,000 hours of TV shows to compete with Disney+ and Netflix.
Included are the Rocky and Robocop franchises and classics such as Silence of the Lambs, Thelma and Louise and Raging Bull.
Hit telly series The Handmaid’s Tale and Real Housewives are also in the vaults.
Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, called MGM’s back catalogue a “treasure trove” that the two companies planned to “reimagine and develop together”.
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He added: “It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.”
MGM was founded in 1926 and became one of the major studios of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
However, the brand has struggled in more recent years and briefly fell into bankruptcy in 2010.