MGM, the Hollywood studio behind the rights of James Bond and Rocky, is for sale with a price tag of more than $ 5bn (£ 3.75bn).
The studio has reviewed sales several times over the past few years, most recently in January when initial talks were held with Netflix and Apple among others, but the the price of the obstacle.
However, the streaming wars continue to fuel high inflation in the prices that are willing to be paid for essential content, and proven global franchises are becoming increasingly scarce and consequently worthless. rocket there.
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MGM has a library of 4,000 film titles and 17,000 hours of TV programming, from Gone with the Wind and The Hobbit to TV tours such as The Handmaid’s Tale. It generated $ 1.5bn in revenue last year. While the studio, which went bankrupt ten years ago after running up $ 4bn (£ 2.5bn) in debt, has developed new rights such as Rocky spin-off Creed, featuring Michael B Jordan, still has the crown jewel 58- The evergreen James Bond franchise.
Bond is the fifth most valuable film franchise ever, with its 24 films to date earning over $ 7bn, behind just the Marvel, Star Wars, Harry Potter and Spider-Man films. And with a loyal, global fanbase the films can be trusted to bring in around $ 1bn at the global box office. Bond’s next film, No Time To Die, Daniel Craig’s Last Time as 007, was moved twice with their first release now scheduled for April in the hope that it will be able to follow movie return to theaters en masse.
Founded in 1924, MGM (AKA Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), which has recorded great success over the years with films such as The Wizard of Oz, Ben Hur and Singin ‘in the Rain, has changed hands often over the years. Owners have included alcoholic beverages Edgar Bronfman, Las Vegas casino billionaire Kirk Kerkorian and CNN founder Ted Turner.