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After nearly 40 years of whimpers rather than roars, will the Lion (MGM) finally be silenced?

post #1 of 10
11/12/09 at 10:35am
Thread Starter 
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118011199.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&ref=vertfilm

Looks like the long needed end of MGM is finally about to occur. It'll be interesting to see which studio picks up the remaining catalog, which mostly consists of:

- post-1986 MGM films
- most of the post-1952 United Artists catalog
- post-1981 Orion Pictures titles

My bet would be on Warner, Fox or Sony getting the catalog, in that order. And that's generally a good thing, though I wonder how much Warner would be able to dip into that catalog considering how large theirs already is.

Some films of note from that library:

- James Bond franchise
- Rocky franchise
- Most of Woody Allen's pre-90s films
- Lots of Billy Wilder films
- Oscar winners, fan favorites such as Platoon, Fargo, Dances with Wolves, The Silence of the Lambs, Raging Bull, The Princess Bride, RoboCop, The Usual Suspects, 12 Angry Men, In the Heat of the Night, The Graduate,
- Leone's Dollars Trilogy
- Pink Panther franchise

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post #2 of 10
11/12/09 at 11:06am
War Games
Buckaroo Bonzai
The Manhattan Project
Valley Girl

We've already got good Blu-Ray releases from a few that you mention, but we've yet to see these above appear. 





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post #3 of 10
11/12/09 at 11:33am
Here's hoping Warner or, ideally, Sony snaps up MGM's film library.
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post #4 of 10
11/12/09 at 11:37am
A lion is expected to live 15 years in the wild and 30 years in a zoo. Yet Leo the Lion has hung on for 85 years.

I hope Time Warner becomes its final resting place, as they already own MGM's real legacy and would do this library justice on Blu-Ray.
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post #5 of 10
11/12/09 at 1:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Worth View Post

Here's hoping Warner or, ideally, Sony snaps up MGM's film library.

Put me in for Sony as well.  They've been the best by far in treating all catalog films, great and small, with an equally high standard.  
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post #6 of 10
11/12/09 at 1:27pm
Definitely Sony, since neither Warner nor Fox has any interest in releasing catalogue titles any more.
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post #7 of 10
11/12/09 at 1:39pm
The only good thing about WB buying the United Artist library is that it would once again be in the hands of George Feltenstein.
 
The bad part would be that WB already has more library titles then one company can handle and obtaining UA would give them an unfair market advantage over the remaining companies.

 
Better FOX would obtain the UA library – they had the rights back in the 80’s and are familiar with the library, plus they current distribute MGM/UA product. This would also even out the balance of market share:
 
WB (including MGM, New Line, Orion and UA) vs Fox, Paramount & Sony
 
Universal has the smallest share and Disney is mostly geared to family product
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post #8 of 10
11/12/09 at 4:53pm
It's too bad that an institution as old as MGM is going to disappear. In fact, I think it is disastrous because it means an industry that suffers from too much concentration is only going to get even worse.  
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post #9 of 10
11/12/09 at 5:37pm
I wonder what's going to happen to their TV shows that are still in production, like Stargate: Universe?
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post #10 of 10
11/13/09 at 2:24am

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse Blacklow View Post


Put me in for Sony as well.  They've been the best by far in treating all catalog films, great and small, with an equally high standard.  

Sure seems that way so far.  Warner has been a bit too spotty w/ quality so far.

_Man_
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Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming Video and Digital Downloads › Blu-ray › After nearly 40 years of whimpers rather than roars, will the Lion (MGM) finally be silenced?