MGM doesn’t own its Golden Age library (WarnerMedia does). And they’re not even a studio in the common acception, at least not since the release of the first Hot Tub Time Machine in 2010.
MGM actually ceased film production around 1975. The studio had been bought by Kirk Kerkorian, who was a real-estate developer. He sold many backlot properties, and he used the logo for his Vegas casinos and his hotel chain. Then, when United Artists was extremely weakened by the colossal flop of Heaven’s Gate, he bought United Artists too. UA had also recently lost most of its executive team to a new mini-studio, Orion (Amadeus, Robocop, Platoon, Silence of the Lambs, Dance with the Wolves).
Kerkorian continued the activity at UA, but started using more and more the MGM logo, which had more cachet. In 1986, there was a failed merger between MGM/UA and Turner Broadcasting System. After a few months, Turner sold back the actual studio (along with the United Artists library, as there were still franchises in production there) and kept the pre-1986 MGM, the pre-1950 Warner Bros (which Jack Warner at sold at a pittance in 1956 while Warner Bros was at a low point) and the RKO libraries. That’s how Warner ended up owning back, after a series of mergers, its entire catalog (plus RKO, plus most of MGM).
Post 1986, MGM/UA was involved in a series of shady dealings under the guidance of Italian businessman (and very much a conman) Giancarlo Parretti. there was a merger with Cannon, which was actually on the verge of bankruptcy. Albert Broccoli’s EON Productions put the James Bond franchise into hiatus until things would settle. The studio was repossessed by Parretti’s backers, and ultimately sold to... Kirk Kerkorian.
At this point, MGM/UA also added to its assets the Orion library. They remained more or less active during the nineties, but they were still very reliant on the James Bond franchise (Stallone had stopped working on Rocky, and Blake Edwards had driven the Pink Panther series into the sand). And they had a crapload of debt.
The biggest event, which has enabled to keep them alive a little longer, was the deal with Sony Pictures, which, at some point, was on the verge of making a deal with Kevin McClory, the guy who owned the films rights to Ian Fleming’s Thunderball, Blofeld, SPECTRE, and possibly other elements from the franchise. Sony killed their plans to remake once more Thunderball/Never Say Never Again, gave to EON Productions the rights to Casino Royale, the first book in the series, and became the de facto producers and distributors of the Craig era Bond films (until Spectre, which was the final film in the deal). In exchange, they got the rights to Spider-Man, which Cannon had brought into the MGM group in the eighties.
Starting then, there have been many attempts by the MGM creditors (who basically run the company) to sell the assets to a studio, while MGM itself was turning into an empty shell, a collection of adaptation rights, franchises, and IPs, with capacities that have more in common with a production company than a proper studio. They haven’t produced or distributed anything independently since 2010. They owned the adaptation rights to The Hobbit, but Warner/New Line developed it with Peter Jackson. They also worked with Warner on Creed, the Rocky spin-off, and with other studios for stuff like the Robocop or Red Dawn remakes. One of the few productions MGM handled on its own was the Death Wish remake. They tried at some point to revive the United Artists moniker as a joint venture with Tom Cruise, but it was also at the time Cruise had gone bonkers, and the two films they released under United Artists (Lions for Lambs and Valkyrie) were legitimate flops.
They also signed a distribution deal with Annapurna, with a joint venture first named Mirror, and now United Artists Releasing, which should have its first major event with the release of No Time to Die. But, once again, it is Annapurna and Universal (which handles international distribution) who bankroll the movie, Barbara Broccoli and Michael H. Wilson at EON Productions have a word in the matter, and MGM’s hands are quite tied.
So, basically, if you buy MGM, you get some interesting film libraries, also the full rights to the IPs and franchises attached to them, provided the original producers are no longer involved (which isn’t the case for James Bond) and billions of debt. But, for some reason, they never put any emphasis on the debt thing.
MGM actually ceased film production around 1975. The studio had been bought by Kirk Kerkorian, who was a real-estate developer. He sold many backlot properties, and he used the logo for his Vegas casinos and his hotel chain. Then, when United Artists was extremely weakened by the colossal flop of Heaven’s Gate, he bought United Artists too. UA had also recently lost most of its executive team to a new mini-studio, Orion (Amadeus, Robocop, Platoon, Silence of the Lambs, Dance with the Wolves).
Kerkorian continued the activity at UA, but started using more and more the MGM logo, which had more cachet. In 1986, there was a failed merger between MGM/UA and Turner Broadcasting System. After a few months, Turner sold back the actual studio (along with the United Artists library, as there were still franchises in production there) and kept the pre-1986 MGM, the pre-1950 Warner Bros (which Jack Warner at sold at a pittance in 1956 while Warner Bros was at a low point) and the RKO libraries. That’s how Warner ended up owning back, after a series of mergers, its entire catalog (plus RKO, plus most of MGM).
Post 1986, MGM/UA was involved in a series of shady dealings under the guidance of Italian businessman (and very much a conman) Giancarlo Parretti. there was a merger with Cannon, which was actually on the verge of bankruptcy. Albert Broccoli’s EON Productions put the James Bond franchise into hiatus until things would settle. The studio was repossessed by Parretti’s backers, and ultimately sold to... Kirk Kerkorian.
At this point, MGM/UA also added to its assets the Orion library. They remained more or less active during the nineties, but they were still very reliant on the James Bond franchise (Stallone had stopped working on Rocky, and Blake Edwards had driven the Pink Panther series into the sand). And they had a crapload of debt.
The biggest event, which has enabled to keep them alive a little longer, was the deal with Sony Pictures, which, at some point, was on the verge of making a deal with Kevin McClory, the guy who owned the films rights to Ian Fleming’s Thunderball, Blofeld, SPECTRE, and possibly other elements from the franchise. Sony killed their plans to remake once more Thunderball/Never Say Never Again, gave to EON Productions the rights to Casino Royale, the first book in the series, and became the de facto producers and distributors of the Craig era Bond films (until Spectre, which was the final film in the deal). In exchange, they got the rights to Spider-Man, which Cannon had brought into the MGM group in the eighties.
Starting then, there have been many attempts by the MGM creditors (who basically run the company) to sell the assets to a studio, while MGM itself was turning into an empty shell, a collection of adaptation rights, franchises, and IPs, with capacities that have more in common with a production company than a proper studio. They haven’t produced or distributed anything independently since 2010. They owned the adaptation rights to The Hobbit, but Warner/New Line developed it with Peter Jackson. They also worked with Warner on Creed, the Rocky spin-off, and with other studios for stuff like the Robocop or Red Dawn remakes. One of the few productions MGM handled on its own was the Death Wish remake. They tried at some point to revive the United Artists moniker as a joint venture with Tom Cruise, but it was also at the time Cruise had gone bonkers, and the two films they released under United Artists (Lions for Lambs and Valkyrie) were legitimate flops.
They also signed a distribution deal with Annapurna, with a joint venture first named Mirror, and now United Artists Releasing, which should have its first major event with the release of No Time to Die. But, once again, it is Annapurna and Universal (which handles international distribution) who bankroll the movie, Barbara Broccoli and Michael H. Wilson at EON Productions have a word in the matter, and MGM’s hands are quite tied.
So, basically, if you buy MGM, you get some interesting film libraries, also the full rights to the IPs and franchises attached to them, provided the original producers are no longer involved (which isn’t the case for James Bond) and billions of debt. But, for some reason, they never put any emphasis on the debt thing.
