The recent news of Amazon purchasing Hollywood studio MGM for $8.45 billion has underlined that OTT platforms might rule the roost in the entertainment and media industry in the years to come. After this news, Information was inundated with calls from concerned exhibitors across India to understand whether the purchase of the big Hollywood studio by the e-commerce giant would spell the death-knell for cinemas across the world. Would films now be made for the streaming platforms only rather than for cinemas too? The one-line reply to all such worried exhibitors is the comment of the producers of the James Bond films which are a huge part of the vast library of MGM. Said the producers of the Bond films soon after the deal: “Future James Bond films will continue to be screened in theatres globally despite MGM-Amazon deal.”
It may be added here that through the deal, Amazon has become only 50% owner of the Bond franchise films because the other half of the ownership belongs to the two producers of the Bond films — Barbara Broccoli and her brother, Michael G. Wilson.