Despite its many years of Oscar glory, its very name being synonymous with Hollywood, MGM is up for sale once again.
The studio has been bought and sold many times over the years, changing hands from the likes of CNN founder Ted Turner to a drinks magnate at one point. However, recent years has seen both Apple and Netflix take an interest in purchasing the studio with the lion mascot.
The price, however, has always been an issue. It's understood that this time around, MGM is looking for a cool $5 billion. Currently, MGM has the rights to none other than James Bond, with 'No Time To Die' still held off from cinemas until April of next year.
On top of that, MGM also has the library rights to some 4,000 movies and 17,000 hours of TV programming, including recent hits like 'The Handmaid's Tale', 'The Hobbit', 'Creed', and classics such as 'Gone With The Wind', 'Doctor Zhivago', 'Meet Me In St. Louis', 'Ben-Hur', 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers', and many more.
Last year saw MGM take in revenues of around $1.5 billion, but its most steady earner remains the Bond franchise. Having amassed a total of $7 billion across its 24 movies and 58 years in cinemas, it's the fifth-most valuable movie franchise of all time, only behind the likes of 'Star Wars', the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the 'Harry Potter' franchise, and the 'Spider-Man' franchise.
So far, it's not yet clear who's interested in buying MGM, but given how Disney swallowed up 20th Century Fox, it wouldn't be at all surprising if previous suitors Netflix or Apple decided to take a run at MGM this time around, seeing as how both companies are desperate to keep their libraries topped and audiences engaged.
