I’ll have to study the deal in more detail to understand everything. In an ideal world EON retain the rights to produce the films and have creative control. Amazon become a secure partner simply bankrolling that operation - hopefully meaning smaller gaps between films.
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It would the same relationship they had with MGM and Sony. They can’t make a film without the other one, Eon holds all the rights, but need the other to supply funding and distribution. How much influence the studio has really depends on how well the head of production can get on with Eon.
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I would predict though that with Amazon there won‘t be a situation in which a script would have to be slimmed down because it is considered too expensive (i.e. who cares if the third act sucks, people will buy tickets anyway).
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Great news. Does this mean, with the dawn of a new actor’s tenure, we might see more regular and consistent releases? Amazon would seem to add a much needed degree of stability to the series.
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I do like that this likely means all Bond films permanently on Amazon Prime. (Pink Panther probably too)
Not that Bezos needs more revenue, but it is highly unlikely that Amazon won’t want to make use of the best horse in their newly acquired stable.
So, yeah, I guess we can expect a more stable supply of Bond films than before. And maybe even a shorter hiatus between NTTD and the next film.
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I’m optimistic and embracing the deal. Let’s get this show on the road.
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Does this mean that we’ve seen our last Bond movie on the big screen?
No, I don’t think so. If cinemas can prove to be bankable post-pandemic, Bond films will still release theatrically. I think EON will still have a modicum of control over that. But I do see a shorter release between theater and streaming with streaming to be exclusively on Amazon.
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Going to the movies–the actual physical act of getting off one’s butt/bum/behind/tush/derrière/arsch–will become a niche activity. What form this new niche will take is yet to be determined.
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Almost definitely. Amazon would need to make some colossally huge mistakes to get into MGM’s situation.
I imagine Eon will find it nice not to the crutch for a studio anymore
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So why did Amazon pay such a startling premium?
For starters, it can. The company has $71 billion in cash and a market capitalization of $1.64 trillion.
But Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and chief executive, is known as a conservative buyer. The purchase of Whole Foods for $13.4 billion in 2017 was the biggest acquisition in Amazon’s history. Its next-largest deals — until MGM — were for Zappos ($1.2 billion, 2009) and the smart doorbell company Ring ($1.2 billion, 2018).
The Whole Foods deal was a major strategic change for the company, pushing it into new markets of groceries and physical stores, which it had largely avoided. MGM is more about augmenting a current strategy: Amazon most likely paid more than others thought MGM was worth because of its all-important Prime membership program.
“If you’re Amazon, the perspective is what’s the potential for Prime membership, what is the potential for advertising,” said Brian Yarbrough, a senior analyst at Edward Jones.
In addition to paying Amazon $119 a year or $13 a month for free shipping and other perks — notably access to the Prime Video streaming service — households with Prime memberships typically spend $3,000 a year on Amazon. That is more than twice what households without the membership spend, according to Morgan Stanley. About 200 million people pay for Prime memberships.
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Companies that kicked the tires on MGM when it was being quietly shopped in recent months had expressed shock over the price that Amazon was willing to pay for the studio. They believed the studio was worth more on the order of $5 billion to $6 billion with the assumption of some debt. That was due in part to the fact that MGM shares the rights to the Bond franchise with Eon Productions. That company, which is run by half-siblings Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, has an unusual amount of control over the spy series – with rights to approve everything from marketing to casting and from distribution to ancillary projects. That means that Amazon may struggle to get their signoff on any move to, say, debut the next Bond film on its streaming service, Amazon Prime.
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“To casting”
…speaking as an actor, most of my casting has been via the producers…
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What odds can I get on Bezos appearing in the next movie?
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very possibly
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As the villain? He fits the archetype. He just needs a scheme now.
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Good news.
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