MGM, Sony & Fox (1 Viewer)

Could someone provide the most recent information on what the arrangement is between these three entities?

I read a two year old article that said Sony would be handling the distribution of MGM films on Blu-Ray but the Bond films have the Fox logo on them. If Fox does have control over the Bond BD releases, why does the Craig Casino Royale still carry the Sony banner?

Why do I care about this? Well, because I haven't been too thrilled with Fox's BD offerings thus far and I don't want them mucking up the Bond franchise.

I did pick up three Connery titles yesterday because they were marked $8 below the sticker price, and I'm very pleased with the quality of the product I've reviewed at this time. It *appears* that Fox hasn't done anything negative with them from what I've seen. So, I am relieved by that. I'm just wondering how deep into MGM's library Fox will be going and what titles are affected.


Jeff

Because 'Casino Royale' was financed and released by Columbia (Sony) and not part of the older MGM/UA catalogue now under the Fox banner (or at least that's how I understand the situation.)

Got it. That explains that part.

MGM is it's own entity. Fox merely distributes their content.

It's like this: Sony is among a consortium of shareholders who own MGM. Initially, Sony was distributing MGM product, but MGM, still being an independent entity in spite of partial ownership by Sony, became displeased with how Sony was handling its distribution and made a deal with Fox to distribute its product.

With Bond, it gets goofy. John Calley, who was a producer on Thunderball, retained some rights to that particular property, including remake rights, which is how Never Say Never Again got made. Warner later made a deal with MGM for the video rights to NSNA, and Sony made a similar deal with the original Casino Royale. John Calley later became a higher up muckety-muck at Sony, and was still there when the consortium bought MGM. As a result, Sony was able to gain some rights to the Bond properties that would be made after the sale. End result? Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace both carry MGM and Columbia banners.

The same goes for the new Pink Panther films, including the new one this coming spring. Sony will release it as a co-production with MGM.

The relationship is very convoluted between the two with MGM trying to be as independent as possible and is only due to the other investors in the deal. The deal was too rich for Sony alone so they were able to interest other investors, including Comcast, but had to settle with less than 50% of ownership.

The deal with Fox for home video releasing has three years left.

Thanks for all the info, guys. I think I can best sum this up to say that I should expect to see some MGM titles distributed on BD by Fox and Sony, and maybe even by MGM alone?

Fox will distribute the MGM product (Post 1986, United Artists, Orion, AIP, some Polygram and various others) for the next 3 years or longer if new agreement is put in place. Sony will handle any co-productions with MGM such as new Bond and Pink Panther films. Fox will handle older titles of these series. Only if MGM does not extend the Fox agreement would they be in a position to release on their own. Even if they do not extend the agreement, there is always a chance they could go with Warner or another company (Genius). It all depends on who will pay the top dollar. Fox pulled the rug from under Warner the last go around.

Actually I am glad that Warner did not get the deal. With all the catalog titles from their vault, RKO, Monogram, and pre 1986 MGM; they have a lot on their plate now.