MGM watch: Amazon tightens its grip on Leo the Lion

Recently, Amazon, which acquired Metro-Goldwyn Mayer for $8.45 billion, has been taking control over the home studio of the James Bond film franchise.

Examples:

–Deadline: Hollywood acquired internal emails showing that Jennifer Salke, chief of Amazon Studios, is now formally in charge of MGM.

Salke now is in charge of Amazon Studios and MGM. Christopher Brearton, who had been chief operating officer of MGM, now has a new executive job.

Before the Amazon deal, MGM’s film division was headed by Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. Eon liked the duo and said they wished they’d stay. But they departed earlier and landed at Warner Bros.

–Mark Burnett, who had created Survivor The Apprentice and other “reality” shows and who had headed MGM’s TV division, is gone, noted The Hollywood Reporter.

Back in 2018, THR reported that Burnett was instrumental in having then MGM CEO Gary Barber fired. What goes around, comes around, one supposes.

To be sure, anytime there’s an acquisition, executive changes occur.

The main question — from the perspective of James Bond fans — is whether any of this affects the 007 franchise. Eon and its parent company Danjaq control the creative rights to the franchise. But Danjaq/Eon relies on its studio partner to finance the films.

WB to distribute MGM movies internationally, Deadline says

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Warner Bros. has agreed to distribute Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films internationally, Deadline: Hollywood reported.

The agreement begins with “with Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All in November and continuing with the 2023 slate and beyond; the second title under the pact being Creed III in March,” Deadline said.

However, Warner Bros., part of Warner Bros. Discovery, will not be involved with MGM’s James Bond series right away.

No Time to Die, the most recent Bond film, was distributed by Universal internationally. That will remain in effect for Bond 26, according to Deadline.

“The terms of the new Warner Bros. agreement with MGM include the foreign distribution of subsequent 007 films from Bond 27 onward,” according to the entertainment news website.

Barbara Broccoli, the head of Eon Productions, which makes the Bond films, has said it will be “at least two years” before Bond 26 begins filming. That would imply Bond 26 won’t be out until 2025 or so.

On the Warner Bros. side, the new agreement was hammered out by Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. They were formerly film executives at MGM.

Eon spoke highly of De Luca and Abdy and said it hoped they’d be retained after Amazon completed its acquisition of MGM. Instead, De Luca and Abdy departed and landed at Warner Bros.

Bond 26 questions: The MGM shakeup edition

Image for the official James Bond feed on Twitter

Well, the first shoe has fallen after Amazon bought Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for $8.45 billion. MGM’s top two film executives are leaving after Eon Productions said it wanted the duo to stay.

Naturally, the blog has questions.

Is this really unexpected?

No. Companies rarely spend billions of dollars to buy a company and just say, “We’re not going to make any changes.” Acquirers simply don’t do that. Ask the staff of CNN + after new owners pulled the plug on the new streaming service just a few weeks after completing the deal.

Are the departing MGM executives angry?

You couldn’t tell it by the statement that Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy put out to their staff. Variety got a copy. It began thusly:

“A little over two years ago we came to MGM to help restore its vibrancy among the storied studios of the last century and we are proud to say, thanks to all of you and your efforts, it is mission accomplished.“

Are you a little skeptical?

In these situations, departing executives often get a buyout as long as they stay quiet or say nice things. Executives who get in trouble with a company’s board of directors suddenly find they have a hankering to retire, etc.

What does this mean for James Bond movies?

Hard to say for now. But Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson last year gave a statement to The New York Times that they really, really wanted De Luca and Abdy to stay. Presumably, they’re not happy this week with this development.

What should Bond fans watch out for?

Bond is one of MGM’s main assets. Amazon surely knows this. There is a Bond-themed reality show in the works (a sort of Bond version of The Amazing Race). Will there be other attempts to expand the franchise? We’ll see.

MGM film execs favored by Eon to depart studio, Variety says

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Two Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film executives favored by Eon Productions are departing the studio, Variety reported.

Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, the top two executives in MGM’s film division, “have both been let go of the company,” the entertainment news outlet said. An excerpt:

De Luca had recently made overtures to David Zaslav about coming to Warner Bros. Discovery, according to an insider. The rumor mill has been swirling in recent weeks about the executives long-term future, with many predicting that he would be headed for the exit soon.

In July 2021, Eon’s Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson issued a statement to The New York Times after Amazon agreed to buy MGM. “Mike and Pam understand that we are at a critical juncture and that the continuing success of the James Bond series is dependent on us getting the next iteration right and will give us the support we need to do this.”

The statement quoted the Eon duo as saying, “Amazon has assured us that Bond will continue to debut” in movie theaters, according to the Times. “Our hope is that they will empower Mike and Pam to continue to run MGM unencumbered.” 

De Luca’s title was chairman of MGM’s motion picture group while Abdy was his deputy. Amazon already had its own film operation.

Executive changes are common after corporate acquisitions. Amazon’s $8.45 billion deal for MGM was announced last year and became final in March.

For Eon, the departure of De Luca and Abdy means the company that produces James Bond films will have yet another MGM executive team to deal with. It remains to be seen how this will affect the development of Bond 26. Actor Daniel Craig has exited the role of Bond after five movies from 2006 through 2021.

Bond 26 questions: MGM’s new owner edition

James Bond’s home studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, has a new owner, Amazon. The deal, under regulatory review for months, is now final.

You’d think this would have some effect on the Bond franchise. Naturally, the blog has questions.

What happens next? Now the real work begins.

How so? Eon Productions, which actually makes Bond films, has been publicly lobbying Amazon on a couple of fronts.

First, Eon’s Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have said repeatedly that Bond films need to debut in movie theaters. They don’t want Bond movies to be on streaming services (like Amazon’s) first.

Second, the Eon duo has spoken up in favor of two MGM film executives, Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. Broccoli and Wilson have said they want De Luca and Abdy to stay.

The thing is, anytime you have a major acquisition, there is almost always change, including executives. It remains to be seen if Amazon merges MGM into its Amazon Studios unit. The fate of current MGM executives, including De Luca and Abdy, is uncertain for now.

Something else? While Broccoli and Wilson have lobbied publicly, Amazon has stayed quiet. That makes sense while you’re an owner in waiting. Now, Amazon is the owner. With the acquisition complete, we’ll see what changes Amazon intends to make.

How might this affect Bond 26? It’s too early to tell. Eon doesn’t seem to be in a hurry. Eon has been engaged in a long goodbye with now-former Bond Daniel Craig. First, Eon boss Barbara Broccoli wanted to celebrate Craig’s long run as the British agent. Now, she’s producing a stage production with the actor.

By the time, Eon is ready to even think about Bond 26, Amazon may have implemented changes at MGM. As usual, we’ll see.

‘Intrigue’ at Amazon, MGM over NYT article, newsletter says

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A New York Times story on July 6 has created “intrigue” at Amazon and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, according to a newsletter by a former editor at The Hollywood Reporter.

The article about MGM film chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy generated some “serious eye-rolling at Amazon Studios this week,” wrote Matthew Belloni.

De Luca runs MGM’s film division and Abdy is his deputy. An excerpt from the newsletter:

I’m told Amazon’s famously press-averse executives were “concerned” about the story, mostly because De Luca and Abdy focused on MGM’s theatrical release plans and their strategy of “original ideas and original authorship,” possibly leaving the impression that there will be internal conflict with what Jeff Bezos cited as the primary reason for buying MGM: To “reimagine and redevelop” the studio’s existing I.P. The story also suggested the town might be rooting for De Luca to wrest control of Amazon’s film output from Jen Salke, the current head of Amazon Studios. 

Amazon last month agreed to acquire MGM for $8.45 billion. But the deal is subject to regulatory approval, a process that may take months.

Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, in a statement to the Times made clear they’re rooting for De Luca and Abdy.

Referring to Amazon, they said in the statement: “Our hope is that they will empower Mike and Pam to continue to run MGM unencumbered,” MGM is James Bond’s home studio. Eon controls creative matters with Bond while MGM finances the films.

Belloni’s newsletter said the Times story didn’t go over well with Amazon.

“Amazon and the tech companies that run Hollywood these days absolutely hate this posturing crap,” Belloni wrote. MGM and De Luca declined to comment to the newsletter.

No Time to Die, Eon’s 25th James Bond film, is scheduled to be released Sept. 30 in the U.K. and Oct. 8 in the U.S. The Amazon acquisition isn’t likely to be completed before then.

Eon endorses 2 current MGM execs amid Amazon deal

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Eon Productions has endorsed the efforts of two current Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film executives in the wake of Amazon’s pending $8.45 billion acquisition of James Bond’s home studio.

Eon’s Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson issued a statement for a story today in The New York Times. They spoke up in support of Michael De Luca, chairman of MGM’s Motion PIcture Group, and his deputy, Pamela Abdy.

“Mike and Pam understand that we are at a critical juncture and that the continuing success of the James Bond series is dependent on us getting the next iteration right and will give us the support we need to do this,” Broccoli and Wilson said in the statement to the Times.

The tenure of Daniel Craig, the current cinema Bond, is coming to an end with the upcoming No Time to Die.

“Amazon has assured us that Bond” films will come out first in movie theaters, Broccoli and Wilson added. “Our hope is that they will empower Mike and Pam to continue to run MGM unencumbered.” 

De Luca has been in his post since early 2020.

The Times story primarily concerns efforts by De Luca and Abdy to reinvigorate MGM’s film efforts. The studio emerged from bankruptcy in 2010. Since then, it has attempted to build up its film slate under the MGM and Orion brands.

Amazon has a major streaming service. Purchasing MGM secures Amazon a large film library and programming source.

The Times also details how Amazon also has purchased films from studios “looking to offload their movies because theaters were largely closed” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Major executive changes often take place following an acquisition. “

“There are some in Hollywood’s film community who are hopeful that Mr. De Luca and Ms. Abdy will oversee Amazon’s movie business once the merger is complete,” the Times said.

Amazon’s purchase of MGM is subject to regulatory approval.

No Time to Die, Eon’s 25th Bond film, is scheduled to be released Sept. 30 in the U.K. and Oct. 8 in the U.S. It’s uncertain whether Amazon’s deal with MGM will be completed before then.