James Bond studio MGM expand DVD distribution despite Sony buy-out talks

22-May-2004 • Bond News

MGM is currently in talks to be acquired by a group led by Sony, but that hasn't stopped it from continuing plans to make more movies with an international appeal, expand DVD distribution overseas and make deals with cable and satellite TV operators to launch MGM-branded networks, reports Reuters.

Since the 1990s, the kinds of movies that tend to export well from the U.S. studios are blockbuster action films with big stars, which are not generally part of MGM's repertoire, with the James Bond franchise as a notable exception.

MGM traditionally has focused on smaller-budget, niche-audience films such as "Barbershop," aimed at urban audiences, and "Jeepers Creepers" for horror fans, but executives say the studio wants to release more movies with the global appeal of Bond.

MGM is creating a new version of its popular "Pink Panther" series with Steve Martin and is making "Be Cool," a sequel to "Get Shorty" starring John Travolta and Uma Thurman. It also recently released "Walking Tall" starring The Rock.

"Those are movies that we did with an eye toward international markets," said Chris McGurk, MGM's vice chairman and chief operating officer. "If you look at our release slate, we're selectively developing more movies where we can reach a global audience."

MGM also has seen a noticeable bump in its worldwide DVD revenues - up 58 percent in the most recent quarter - since it started reclaiming distribution rights around the world, after severing what had been a long-term contract with Fox.

Most film companies, including MGM, vastly underestimated the explosive growth of DVD sales. MGM aims to reclaim the Benelux region - Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg - this year, leaving Japan as the only major market where it will not have home-video distribution rights.

"Rather than the traditional model of a split-rights deal, where someone would buy the international piece of the movie, we're very conscious about keeping rights, particularly for the video territories in the UK, France, Germany, Australia and Benelux," said Danny Rosett, the newly appointed president of MGM arm United Artists.

Thanks to `Keno` for the alert.