James Bond and Lord of the Rings fan have surely been following the MGM drama of the last five years but for those who are unfamiliar with it, it’s a tale that could use its own mini series. A quick history lesson on the subject. MGM has long been a movie studio but never as large as some of the others like Warner Brothers, Paramount, Sony Pictures and Universal to name a few. Because of this, though the company is large enough to produce the films, it does not have the scope to properly distribute them in theaters and on the home market. Throughout the companies history, MGM has worked with numerous distributors but our tale is focus on the last few years. In mid 2000’s, with two new video formats emerging, Blu-ray and HD DVD, MGM had to pick a format and find a distributing partner and Sony Pictures was that company. Sony helped both finance and distribute films like Casino Royal and Quantum of Solace but on the home distribution front of DVD and Blu-ray, MGM was not happy with the pace that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment was releasing their content. Sometime after 2005 and with Blu-ray starting to tip the scale against HD DVD, MGM’s management terminates their contract and signs on with Fox Home Entertainment. Of course, only two years later, MGM files for bankruptcy and thus a limbo was created for the 23rd Bond and the Lord of the Ring prequel, The Hobbit.

MGM has since emerged from bankruptcy and their current distribution deal with Fox will expire in September. With MGM back on its feet, the company is again looking for a new company to help distribute and finance their deal and who better to go to then the company that actually had them stay afloat, Sony Pictures. The yet unsigned deal is set to have , Sony co-finance the next two Bond films, providing 50% of the funding for “Bond 23” and 25% for a sequel, “Bond 24”. In return, MGM is rumored to be interested in funding David Fincher’s Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and the upcoming Spider-man reboot though I’m skeptical of the latter, considering how far along Sony is with shooting. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment would also have access to 4,000-title library on Blu-ray, DVD and digital platforms.  Hobbit fans should take note that MGM will co-finance and distribute the prequels with New Lines studio, the same partners they had on the original trilogy as WB has half ownership of the franchise.

[Via LA Times]