European Commission Approves Amazon's $8.45 Billion MGM Acquisition

pcmag.com:

UPDATE 3/16: The European Commission this week unconditionally approved Amazon's $8.45 billion acquisition of movie and TV studio MGM. Based on its investigation, the council concluded that the merger would raise no competition concerns among film and audio-visual content markets in the EU.

"The Commission found that MGM's films represent only a limited share of box office revenues in the EEA," according to an official press release, "and that overall MGM is not among the top production studios, despite its rights over successful film franchises such as James Bond."

Amazon still requires authorization from the Federal Trade Commission, which currently has two Democrat and two Republican members; the Senate has yet to vote on Alvaro Bedoya's appointment.

Original Story 5/26/21:Amazon is set to acquire media company MGM for $8.45 billion, in the process securing access to and control over thousands of movies and TV shows.

"The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team. It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling," said Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon Studios.

And what a treasure trove it is, including movies such as Legally Blonde, Raging Bull, Robocop, Rocky, Silence of the Lambs, Stargate, Tomb Raider, and of course the growing collection of James Bond movies. As far as TV series go, there's Fargo, The Handmaid’s Tale, Get Shorty, and Vikings, as well as a number of very popular unscripted shows.

"I am very proud that MGM’s Lion, which has long evoked the Golden Age of Hollywood, will continue its storied history, and the idea born from