Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: MGM now distributed by Sony

This is topic MGM now distributed by Sony in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=001451

Posted by Justin West (Member # 920) on 05-27-2005, 11:31 PM:

So, just got notified that MGM releases will now be dist by Sony. Does anyone have the poop behind MGM's demise/merger/sale?

Posted by Jason Whitlock (Member # 3077) on 05-28-2005, 12:29 AM:

poor poor TCD.. yet another loss.. those orange cans are starting to disappear now-a-days.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-28-2005, 02:24 AM:

Yeah, just when they were beginning to get their act together. Oh well, we'll all be out of business in a couple of months anyway.

Posted by Lindsay Morris (Member # 1430) on 05-28-2005, 02:40 AM:

I would have thought that the buy out of MGM by Sony would have been common knowledge amongst the US techers!.

Sony outbid Warners I believe to the tune of $8 B US for MGM's business in the states and from what I understand not much will change. You will still see the MGM lion logo etc just that Sony Pictures will distribute the stuff with MGM as a more or less arms length company.. at least for the time being.
There will be a bit of a change in Australia as MGM was/still is distributed by Fox but that will change soon and MGM stuff will start popping up thru the Columbia exchange which is Sony anyway.
It was quite a tussle for Sony to get control with a vigorous bidding war between Sony and Warners over many months.
This got quite a few writeups in the OZ film industry publications... maybe it was seen as just "another" takeover in the US and given no real publicity as a result.

Lindsay

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 05-28-2005, 12:53 PM:

It was years ago when Sony bought the MGM studios and removed the MGM name. I, for one, am not all that impressed that it's now called "Sony Pictures Studios" but I imagine it's done to impress their investors. So this apparently is a logical next step. I wonder how long it will be before Paramount, Columbia, Universal and Warner Brothers are gobbled up by some Japanese conglomerate.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-28-2005, 01:36 PM:

Sony bought up what was left of MGM studios' lot. A great deal of the original MGM campus was sold off by Kirk Kerkorian decades ago for things like condominum developments. MGM has drifted from one owner to the next over the last 30 years, with Kerkorian winding up with it here and there. I think he made a few billion more for himself with this Sony deal.

To me, MGM and United Artists are little more than shells of once great studios. The brand names themselves don't really command much interest anymore.

The main area that is seeing immediate effect over the Sony buyout is in the video area. Many DVD titles under development have been pushed back or shelved indefinitely. The ownership raises all sorts of legal issues and many contracts and rights deals have to be renegotiated. Sergio Leone fans were waiting in interest for a new 2 disc "Fist Full of Dollars" special edition. The project was nearing completion. But now there's no telling when that title will see release.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 05-29-2005, 01:52 AM:

Actually, Sony no longer owns the Culver Studios. In 2004, it was sold to PCCP Studio City Los Angeles.

Posted by Dan Lyons (Member # 1454) on 05-29-2005, 01:43 PM:

Will this have any positive/negative effect on old MGM repertory titles and their availability?

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 05-30-2005, 12:35 AM:

quote: Dan Lyons
Will this have any positive/negative effect on old MGM repertory titles and their availability?

I believe all the MGM rep product is still owned & moved through Warner/Turner. As the corpse of MGM got kicked around, the library of about 1985-earlier went to Turner, & I think the post-1985-ish titles still go with the corporate entity (now owned by Sony).

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-30-2005, 10:04 AM:

Steve Kraus sent me this link, which better explains what Sony will have in available film titles from the MGM deal.
http://www.sonypicturesrepertory.com/hot.html

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 05-30-2005, 01:13 PM:

Wow. The voice of Michael Schlesinger is pretty distinctive there [Smile]

--jhawk

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 05-30-2005, 11:55 PM:

Who's got My Fair Lady now?
Is there still a 70mm print around?

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 06-01-2005, 08:59 AM:

quote: Robert E. Allen
I wonder how long it will be before Paramount, Columbia, Universal and Warner Brothers are gobbled up by some Japanese conglomerate.

Well Columbia Pictures has been a part of Sony for a long while and Universal Pictures was also a part of a Japanese congloerate too.

quote: Bobby Henderson
Sergio Leone fans were waiting in interest for a new 2 disc "Fist Full of Dollars" special edition. The project was nearing completion. But now there's no telling when that title will see release.

That special edition project "A Fistful of Dollars" and "For a Few Dollars More" and "A Fistful of Dynamite" has been completed and is currently available in region 2. All three titles are 2 disc special editions with new 16x9 transfers and 5.1 digital soundtracks plus a DTS track. The special features on all three discs are very nice. Depending on how Sony handles their release, MGM had them coming out next year.
They look nice [thumbsup]

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 06-05-2005, 03:17 PM:

quote: John Hawkinson
Wow. The voice of Michael Schlesinger is pretty distinctive there

And isn't that one grand stroke of luck for us arthouse folk! The more titles that come under his auspises, the better. There is no one better to deal with or who is as passionate about film as Michael. What-oh-what will we do when he retires?! Oh...right; I won't have to worry cause I will be retired too....it will be the next guy's problem (which he will probably try to fix by buying a video projector and a bunch of DVDs).

Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 06-08-2005, 04:42 PM:

quote: William Hooper
Who's got My Fair Lady now?
Is there still a 70mm print around?

Last time, I heard from that beauty, she was distributed by Fox, but danish representitive rejected it with poor estimate for possible reissue.
I had the pleasure of distributing it, last time around over here - that is late seventies, still using the original 1964 70mm print.
A good friend watched it at the mid-nineties reissue in New York and was not impressed by neither picture nor sound - Anybody here been close to it at that time ? The dvd is great, but alas this is all, I have seen of Eliza and the good professor for the last 25 years. -Sad, but I'm afraid the good danish Fox-boss did right in rejecting. -It's over [Frown]

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 06-09-2005, 02:59 AM:

The question I've been wording since I heard about this deal months ago was this:
Will the buyout affect how the remaining MGM films are booked will Sony and MGM be considered the same when product allocation comes into play?

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 06-09-2005, 01:15 PM:

Sony has just pulled "The Pink Panther" from it's August 5th release date to a February 10th date. Because of bad reviews being posted on the net.

Posted by Pete Apruzzese (Member # 1446) on 06-13-2005, 10:41 AM:

quote: William Hooper
Who's got My Fair Lady now?
Is there still a 70mm print around?

It is available from Hollywood Classics USA, although I don't know if they have 70mm prints. They control most of the films that were originally produced by the CBS Theatrical Films division: The Reivers, Scrooge The Musical, Prime Cut, Snoopy Come Home, et al.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-13-2005, 01:19 PM:

quote: Bill Gabel
Sony has just pulled "The Pink Panther" from it's August 5th release date to a February 10th date. Because of bad reviews being posted on the net.

And that's going to help ... how?

That's one movie that had "Sucks" written all over it before a frame of film was shot. Steve Martin is a great comedian and probably even a great actor, but nobody can do Clouseau except Peter Sellers. They should just clean up and reissue the old films.

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 06-13-2005, 02:58 PM:

Send it back to the cutting room and then more market research screenings. It's all been done before. [Eek!]

Posted by Ky Boyd (Member # 23) on 06-16-2005, 02:35 AM:

Drifting slightly back towards topic, the question of who would service my bookings of two MGM repertory titles reared its ugly head this week. The titles were booked prior to May 1, but MGM transferred the bookings to Sony Repertory but not the advance I had properly paid to MGM. A couple of phone calls to Sony got the matter straightened out, but I'm glad it was sorted out now instead of the week I was expecting the first print to arrive.

I also experienced some confusion on a former MGM title that Warner Classics thought they had but turns out to be a Sony.

Bottom line is if you are working with any of the titles in transition this summer, it pays to check up on what is where.