Jeff Bezos is one of history's richest people, his company upended the way people purchase everything, and he wants to get humanity to start living on different planets.
To put it lightly, he’s an ambitious guy.
He’s also never going to be content with Amazon Prime Video (AMZN) being anything less than the premiere streaming service. Which, at the moment, is very much not the case.
He’s been very open that he wants Amazon Prime Video to be competitive with HBO (T) and Netflix (NFLX).
Now, he’s bought himself the nearly century-old MGM Studios, one of the most prestigious names in Hollywood, to help him get there.
Why Did Amazon Buy MGM?
In a shareholder’s meeting from last year, Bezos said Amazon bought MGM because of "vast, deep catalogue of much beloved intellectual property,” he said.
"And with the talent at MGM and the talent at Amazon Studios, we can reimagine and develop that IP for the 21st century," he said. "It will be a lot of fun work, and people who love stories will be the big beneficiaries.”
Bezos wanted MGM for two reasons: Expertise and franchise potential.
Amazon Could Use Some Help
Developing iconic, long-lasting film and television titles is a tricky art, and one that streaming companies, which are largely headed by people from the technology world, don’t always intuitively grasp.
Judging by the numbers, Prime hasn't quite found its way.
Amazon has said that its streaming service has 200 million subscribers, but it’s been frequently pointed out that that number is squishy. That's because Prime Video is included when you sign up for the company’s popular two-day delivery service, Amazon Prime.
But there’s ways to get a general sense of the streamer’s real world popularity.
Take, for example, Amazon’s adaptation of Robert Jordan’s popular fantasy series, “Wheel of Time.”
Amazon paid $250 million just to get the adaptation rights, and then spent $10 million dollars per installment on the eight-episode first season, all in an attempt to secure their next “Game of Thrones.”
The reviews of the first season, which premiered late last year, were mixed-to-bad, with a Metacritic score of 55. It''s safe to say it’s not a culture-dominating hit the way the adventures of Jon Snow was, at least not yet. It also does not dominate Google or Twitter trends the way “Thrones” regularly did.
Despite all of Amazon’s investment, “Wheel of Time” did not end up on the list of Nielsen’s most streamed originals (i.e., made for a streaming network) series of 2021.
In fact, with the exception of Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Disney+’s “WandaVision” and AppleTV+’s “ (AAPL) Ted Lasso,” the entire list is dominated by Netflix shows.
Movies made by Amazon have been a similar story.
Amazon’s only film to make the list of most streamed films was its heavily advertised, poorly reviewed Chris Pratt vehicle “The Tomorrow War,” which didn’t crack the top 10.
With a price tag of more than $200 million, it’s one of the most expensive films ever made for a streaming service — but ultimately, it got lapped by a bunch of children’s cartoons.
So clearly, Amazon could use some help in the originals department. It could also use some recognizable franchises.
IP Is Everything
Complain all you want that everything in Hollywood is a sequel, reboot or franchise installment, as you’re 100% accurate.
But "tent-pole films" and Marvel-style ongoing stories are the current driving force of Hollywood.
The majority of the top 10 films of last year were either in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or part of the James Bond or The Fast and the Furious franchises — and that’s not going to change anytime soon.
And now, Amazon has access to people who know how to deliver high-quality content, and tons of recognizable names it can endlessly reboot.
The company has said it has no immediate plans to make changes to the Bond franchise, and Daniel Craig has repeatedly insisted that this time, really, he’s done with the role.
But there’s no way that after the success of “No Time to Die,” that Amazon will let one of the most recognizable titles in the world sit dormant for long. Just ask a Batman fan how much patience studios have for letting their characters sit idle these days.
So if you like to complain that there’s too many reboots, you can look forward to many more opportunities to gripe, as they are doubtlessly on the way.
But if you’ve been desperately waiting for a grim and gritty reboot of “The Pink Panther,” a TV series set in the world of 00 or, heck, more episodes of “Stargate SG-1,” this might end up being your lucky day.
Expertise, a deep catalog and recognizable properties are tough things for a streaming platform. But if you've got the money, it is smart to buy them and lock them in working for you.
