MGM Looking to Sell?

Movies

Another Hollywood studio is falling victim to the pandemic. According to Deadline, MGM is looking into a sale and has talked to two investment banks to oversee the process. The studio is priced at $5.5 billion, though it comes with $2.3 billion of debt. There have been rumors for years that MGM would be sold, but it never materialized. Now that other studios are getting bigger and bigger (not saying Disney, but also, Disney), MGM can’t compete with them on its own any longer. The other factor is No Time to Die, the latest in MGM’s biggest franchise, James Bond, which it distributes for EON. The latest 007 film has been delayed time and again, going through a rough development process that saw the departure of director Danny Boyle, who was replaced by Cary Joji Fukunaga. It was finally set for release early this year when the COVID lockdowns began and made headlines as the first big movie to postpone its planned release. As November loomed and no end to the shutdown was in sight, MGM even toyed with the idea of releasing it directly to streaming, which would have entailed a $600 million license for one year to AppleTV. Apple balked at paying that amount of money for one movie, and EON pushed for MGM not to act too rashly, and the notion dissipated. But the suggestion of releasing a James Bond movie on a streaming service is a big deal and was indicative of the dire straits in which MGM found itself. Deadline believes that MGM can ride out its troubles, however, as it has a fairly strong slate of releases in its future, including Gucci, with a star-studded cast directed by Ridley Scott, Paul Thomas Anderson’s next film, and a third Creed movie. Still, while it may not be as bad as it looks, it isn’t good.

It shouldn’t be all that surprising that MGM is considering a sale. The No Time to Die rollout has been a disaster, and the movie had lousy press even before the lockdowns. There were talks of reshoots due to bad test screenings, and the people who worked on it have done everything possible to make the audience think that it will be a sterilized wokefest that scolds one of the most popular characters in fiction for being masculine and liking women. (Ironically, it was Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge who seemed to get it best, saying that, while the films have to “evolve” – ugh – Bond “needs to be true to this character.”) Now it’s set for an April theatrical premiere, but there’s doubt about whether the world will be allowed to continue spinning at that point – or, if it is, whether people will feel comfortable going to the movies again, making Deadline suspect it will once more be postponed. As I’ve discussed before, when movies sit on the shelf, they end up costing more money, especially blockbusters like James Bond films, so even if it ends up making sense in the long term, another delay will put more financial strain on MGM, and at a time when they really don’t need it. Wonder Woman 1984’s underperformance is cited as proof that people aren’t going to the movies, but the lockdowns aren’t over yet, and even where theaters are open, people are expected to sit there for two hours in a mask, and at least half the potential seats must remain empty. It’s an even bigger hassle now than it was when all we had to worry about were talkers and overpriced concessions. I’m standing by my prediction that people calling time of death on movie theaters are mistaken, and once life returns to normal (whenever the hell that will be), they’ll be back in force. We’ll just have to see if the studios can wait that long.

Do you think MGM will sell? When will No Time to Die finally release? Isn’t the roaring lion alone worth at least a couple of billion bucks? Let us know in the comments and stick around Geeks + Gamers for more movie news!