Amazon’s $8.5 Billion MGM Deal Wins Clearance by EU, Which Says Studio’s Content ‘Cannot Be Considered as Must-Have’

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completed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM, which co-owns the 007 movie franchise, two weeks ago, it instantly began splitting Bond into many pieces with its evil money-grubbing laser, effectively kicking off the death of a 60-year-old brand beloved by generations.You can smell the British flesh start to sizzle. Last week, Variety reported that Amazon Prime Video and producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G.

Zack Sharf A gravestone for James Bond has been erected on the small island of Kalsoy, which is part of the larger Faroe Islands located between Norway and Iceland. It was on the Faroe Islands where Cary Fukunaga shot parts of the climax of “No Time to Die,” in which James Bond (Daniel Craig) dies in a missile explosion after thwarting the villainous Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek). The island was used as the setting for Safin’s evil lair.

Paramount International boss Raffaele Annecchino has talked up the streamer for “launching quicker than others” in key European markets, as he unveiled a tied-up with global Lupin and Narcos production house Gaumont and set titles from France, Argentina and Germany.

Keith Redmon filed a lawsuit against former employer Anonymous Content on Wednesday that challenges his termination last year and claims that the company engaged in a “smear campaign” to tar him with allegations of sexual misconduct.

King Richard alongside Dixson, may be performing it during the telecast, reports.Beyoncé’s team is reportedly “in deep talks with producers” about performing her nominated track virtually from tennis courts in Compton, California—the very place where King Richard subjects Venus and Serena Williams began playing. According to Variety’s sources, she could potentially open the show after a live introduction from the film’s best actor nominee, Will Smith, who would then head to the Dolby Theatre.Although this is Beyoncé’s first Oscar nomination, it wouldn’t be her first performance at the awards show.

Naman Ramachandran Vidya Balan (“Kahaani”) and Shefali Shah (“Delhi Crime”), two of India’s finest actors, worked together for the first time in Suresh Triveni’s Amazon Prime Video India original “Jalsa.” The result is an acting masterclass.The film is a tense social thriller where the lives of Balan’s Maya, a top journalist and her Shah’s Rukhsana, Maya’s housekeeper, become inextricably linked together after a horrific incident.Balan’s morally upright journalist wrestles with an ethical dilemma through the film. The actor initially turned down the film because she did not want to play someone who seemed morally ambiguous, but isn’t, and eventually the role’s challenges changed her decision.“Maya is successful and she’s in a position of power and there is a certain aloofness to her demeanor,” Balan tells Variety.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorAmazon on Thursday announced that it had closed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM. But the deal may not be out of the regulatory woods yet.The Federal Trade Commission, asked about its review of the Amazon-MGM announcement, noted that the agency has the latitude to file a legal challenge even after the parties have closed a transaction.“The FTC does not comment on any particular matters.

“Amazon joins MGM,” Amazon said Thursday as the $8.5 billion deal announced last May closes.

This story about Zach Baylin first appeared in the Down to the Wire Issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.The assignment was simple, according to “King Richard”producer Tim White. “It was a case,” he said, “of going to a writer and saying, ‘It has to be the one script that everyone in town is talking about.

Elvis Presley was just coming up in popularity. The singer was slowly but surely building a fanbase that would catapult him into stardom in the years to come, but at the time, he was a humble Mississippi boy on the road with his guitar. On one tour he teamed up with country singer Wanda Jackson, and Elvis became besotted with her.

investigation found the deal “would not significantly reduce competition" in European markets, including for movie and TV production, wholesale supply of TV channels and retail supply of “audiovisual services."The commission, the European Union's executive arm, and its top competition watchdog said MGM's content can't be considered “must-have" and it's “not among the top production studios,” despite holding the rights to successful franchises including James Bond.Known for its roaring lion logo, MGM is one of the oldest studios in Hollywood but its star has faded considerably over the years.It still has a vast library, with famous characters such as Rocky, RoboCop and Pink Panther, which Amazon has said it would use to create new movies and shows.

Following Dame Shirley Bassey onto the stage after her performance of Diamonds Are Forever at the BAFTA Film Awards, Rebel Wilson entered to the strains of the Bond theme wearing a shimmering hot pink dress, complete with 80s-style padded shoulders.

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Ethan Shanfeld A federal appeals court ruled in Katy Perry’s favor in the “Dark Horse” copyright lawsuit against Christian rapper Marcus Gray.Gray, whose stage name is Flame, first sued Perry in 2014, claiming her hit “Dark Horse” was substantially similar to his song “Joyful Noise.” In 2019, a Los Angeles jury found Perry liable for infringement, but the verdict was overturned a year later when a judge ruled that the eight-note “ostinato” Perry allegedly copied lacked the “quantum of originality” to warrant copyright protection.Gray appealed the decision in October 2020, writing in a brief about the incriminating similarity of timbre between the songs, and arguing against the musicologists’ use of databases of melodies to determine instances of similarities in previous works. On March 10, 2022, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s overturning the initial jury verdict.

EXCLUSIVE: Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s long-awaited followup to her Emmy-winning series Fleabag is a go. Prime Video has greenlighted the new Waller-Bridge show, which will start shooting by the end of the year. Details about the premise are being kept under wraps.

As Elizabeth Holmes awaits her fate, viewers will see how the disgraced founder of Theranos found herself possibly facing up to 20 years in prison in The Dropout. The Hulu miniseries, premiering on March 3, sees Amanda Seyfried star as Elizabeth, 37, while Naveen Andrews portrays Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, the man who helped co-found the controversial blood-testing tech startup. While Elizabeth has been the face of this scandal – her black turtleneck becoming as visibly recognizable as that of Steve Jobs‘ – Sunny has dodged the spotlight, for the most part. So, who is this man?