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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM), is an American media company specializing in film and television production and distribution based in Beverly Hills, California.
Dec 14, 2023 · Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) is a leading entertainment company focused on the production and global distribution of film and TV content across all platforms.
This is a list of feature films originally released and/or distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (to include MGM/UA Entertainment Co., MGM/UA Communications Co., MGM-Pathe Communications Co. and MGM/UA Distribution Co.).
The following is a list of films originally produced and/or distributed theatrically by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and released (or scheduled to be released) in the 2020s.
Release DateTitleCo-production WithDistributorJanuary 31, 2020Orion Pictures and AutomatikMay 8, 2020August 28, 2020Orion Pictures, Endeavor Content and ...October 9, 2020Orion Classics- Overview
- History
- Amazon era (2022-present)
- Partnerships
- Headquarters
- Leo logo and mottos
- The MGM library
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (initialized as MGM; often referred to as Metro; common metonym: the Lion or Leo) is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs. One of the world's oldest film studios, MGM's headquarters are located at 245 North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills, California.
MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures.[page needed]
In 1971, it was announced that MGM was to merge with 20th Century Fox, but the plan never came to fruition. Over the next 39 years, the studio was bought and sold at various points in its history until, on November 3, 2010, MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. MGM emerged from bankruptcy on December 20, 2010, at which time the executives of Spyglass Entertainment, Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, became co-chairmen and co-CEOs of the holding company of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
MGM Resorts International, a Las Vegas-based hotel and casino company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "MGM", was created in 1973 as a division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company was spun out in 1979, with the studio's then owner Kirk Kerkorian maintaining a large share, but it ended all affiliation with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1986.
Founding and early years
In 1924, movie theater magnate Marcus Loew had a problem. He had bought Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919 for a steady supply of films for his large Loew's Theatres chain. With Loew's lackluster assortment of Metro films, Loew purchased Goldwyn Pictures in 1924 to improve the quality. However, these purchases created a need for someone to oversee his new Hollywood operations, since longtime assistant Nicholas Schenck was needed in New York headquarters to oversee the 150 theaters. Approached by Louis B. Mayer, Loew addressed the situation by buying Louis B. Mayer Pictures on April 17, 1924. Mayer became head of the renamed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with Irving Thalberg as head of production.[page needed] MGM produced more than 100 feature films in its first two years. In 1925, MGM released the extravagant and successful Ben-Hur, taking a $4.7 million profit that year, its first full year. Also in 1925, MGM, Paramount Pictures and UFA formed a joint German distributor, Parufamet. When Samuel Goldwyn left he sued over the use of his name. Marcus Loew died in 1927, and control of Loew's passed to Nicholas Schenck. In 1929, William Fox of Fox Film Corporation bought the Loew family's holdings with Schenck's assent. Mayer and Thalberg disagreed with the decision. Mayer was active in the California Republican Party and used his political connections to persuade the Justice Department to delay final approval of the deal on antitrust grounds. During this time, in the summer of 1929, Fox was badly hurt in an automobile accident. By the time he recovered, the stock market crash in the fall of 1929 had nearly wiped Fox out and ended any chance of the Loew's merger going through. Schenck and Mayer had never gotten along (Mayer reportedly referred to his boss as "Mr. Skunk"),[page needed] and the abortive Fox merger increased the animosity between the two men.
MGM's golden age
From the outset, MGM tapped into the audience's need for glamor and sophistication. Having inherited few big names from their predecessor companies, Mayer and Thalberg began at once to create and publicize a host of new stars, among them Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, William Haines, Joan Crawford, and Norma Shearer (who followed Thalberg from Universal). Established names like Lon Chaney, William Powell, Buster Keaton, and Wallace Beery were hired from other studios. They also hired top directors such as King Vidor, Clarence Brown, Erich von Stroheim, Tod Browning, and Victor Seastrom. The arrival of talking pictures in 1928–29 gave opportunities to other new stars, many of whom would carry MGM through the 1930s: Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Robert Montgomery, Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy, Jeanette MacDonald, and Nelson Eddy among them. MGM was one of the first studios to experiment with filming in Technicolor. Using the two-color Technicolor process then available, MGM filmed portions of The Uninvited Guest (Metro, 1924), The Big Parade (1925), and Ben–Hur (1925), among others, in the process. MGM released The Viking (1928), the first complete Technicolor feature with a synchronized score and sound effects, but no spoken dialogue. With the arrival of talkies, MGM moved slowly and reluctantly into sound era, releasing features like White Shadows in the South Seas (1928) with music and sound effects, and Alias Jimmy Valentine (1928) with limited dialogue sequences. Their first full-fledged talkie, the musical The Broadway Melody (1929), however, was both a box-office success and won the Academy Award as Best Picture of the Year. MGM, however, was the very last studio to convert to "talkies" with its first all-color, "all-talking" sound feature with dialogue being the musical The Rogue Song (1930). MGM included a sequence made in Technicolor's superior new three-color process, a musical number in the otherwise black-and-white The Cat and the Fiddle (1934), starring Jeanette MacDonald and Ramon Novarro. The studio then produced a number of three-color short subjects including the musical La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935); their first complete feature in the process was Sweethearts (1938) with MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, the earlier of the popular singing team's two films in color. From then on, MGM regularly produced several films a year in Technicolor with Northwest Passage being one of the most notable. In addition to a large short-subjects program of its own, MGM also released the shorts and features produced by Hal Roach Studios, including comedy shorts starring Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang and Charley Chase. MGM's distribution deal with Roach lasted from 1927 to 1938, and MGM benefited in particular from the success of the popular Laurel and Hardy films. In 1938, MGM purchased the rights to the Our Gang series and moved the production in-house, continuing production of the successful series of children's comedies until 1944. From 1929 to 1931, MGM produced a series of comedy shorts called All Barkie Dogville Comedies, in which trained dogs were dressed up to parody contemporary films and were voiced by actors. One of the shorts, The Dogway Melody (1930), spoofed MGM's hit 1929 musical The Broadway Melody. MGM entered the music industry by purchasing the "Big Three" starting with Miller Music Publishing Co. in 1934 then Robbins Music Corporation. In 1935, MGM acquired a controlling interest in the capital stock of Leo Feist, Inc., the last of the "Big Three". During the first musical craze of 1928-1930, a custom MGM label was created by Columbia using tunes from MGM productions that were recorded by Columbia. These records were sold only at Loew's theaters. (Columbia also created a label called Publix for Paramount music and sold only at Paramount Theaters.) MGM produced approximately 50 pictures a year, though it never met its goal of releasing a new motion picture each and every week (it was only able to release one feature film every nine days). Loew's 153 theatres were mostly located in New York, the Northeast, and Deep South; Gone with the Wind (1939) had its world premiere at Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. A fine reputation was gained for lavish productions that were sophisticated and polished to cater to an urban audience. Still, as the Great Depression deepened, MGM began to economize by "recycling" existing sets, costumes, and furnishings from yesteryear projects. This recycling practice never let up once started. In addition, MGM saved money because it was the only one of the big five studios that did not own an off-site movie ranch. Until the mid-1950s, MGM could make a claim its rivals could not: it never lost money, although it did have an occasional disaster like Parnell (1937), Clark Gable's biggest flop. It was the only Hollywood studio that continued to pay dividends during the 1930s. MGM stars dominated the box-office during the 1930s, and the studio was credited for inventing the Hollywood stable of stars system, as well. MGM contracted with the American Musical Academy of Arts Association to handle all of their press and artist development. The AMAAA's main function was to develop the budding stars and to make them appealing to the public. Stars such as Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Myrna Loy and Jeanette MacDonald reigned as the top-paid figures at the studio. Another MGM sex symbol actress, Jean Harlow, who had previously appeared in the Howard Hughes film Hell's Angels (1930), now had a big break and became one of MGM's most admired stars, as well. Despite Harlow's gain, Garbo still was a big star for MGM. Shearer was still a money maker despite screen appearances becoming scarce, and Crawford continued her box-office power until 1937. MGM also received a boost through the man who would become "King of Hollywood", Clark Gable. Gable's career took off to new heights after he won an Oscar for the Columbia film It Happened One Night (1934). Mayer and Irving Thalberg's relationship began warmly, but eventually the two became estranged; Thalberg preferred literary works to the crowd-pleasers Mayer wanted. Thalberg, always physically frail, was removed as head of production in 1932. Mayer encouraged other staff producers, among them his son-in-law David O. Selznick, but no one seemed to have the sure touch of Thalberg. As Thalberg fell increasingly ill in 1936, Louis Mayer could now serve as his temporary replacement. Rumors began circulating that Thalberg was leaving to set up his own independent company;[citation needed] his early death in 1936, at age 37, cost MGM dearly.
MGM enters television
MGM's first television program, The MGM Parade, was produced by MGM's trailer department as one of the compilation and promotional shows that imitated Disney's series Disneyland which was also on ABC. Parade was canceled by ABC in the 2nd quarter of 1956. MGM took bids for its movie library in 1956 from Lou Chesler and others, but decided on entering the TV market itself. Chesler had offered $50 million for the film library. MGM-TV was started with the hiring of Bud Barry to head up the operation in June 1956. MGM-TV was to distribute its films to TV (starting with the networks), TV production and purchasing TV stations. TV production was expect to start with the 1957-58 season and was to include half-hour remakes of or series based on its pictures. Initial feature film sales focused on selling to the networks. The year 1957 also marked the end of MGM's animation department, as the studio determined it could generate the same amount of revenue by reissuing older cartoons as it could by producing and releasing new ones. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, by then the heads of the MGM cartoon studio, took most of their unit and made their own company, Hanna-Barbera Productions, a successful producer of television animation. In 1956, MGM sold the television rights for The Wizard of Oz to CBS, which scheduled it to be shown in November of that year. In a landmark event, the film became the first American theatrical fiction film to be shown complete in one evening on prime time television over a major American commercial network. (Olivier's version of Hamlet was shown on prime time network TV a month later, but split in half over two weeks, and the 1950 film, The Titan: Story of Michelangelo was telecast by ABC in 1952, but that was a documentary.) Beginning in 1959, and lasting until 1991, telecasts of The Wizard of Oz became an annual tradition, drawing huge audiences in homes all over the U.S. and earning additional profits for MGM. The studio was all too happy to see Oz become, through television, one of the two or three most famous films MGM has ever made, and one of the few films that nearly everybody in the U.S. has seen at least once. Today The Wizard of Oz is regularly shown on the Turner-owned channels, no longer just once a year.
In December 2020, MGM began to explore a potential sale of the studio, with the COVID-19 pandemic and the domination of streaming platforms due to the closure of movie theaters as contributing factors. The company hired Morgan Stanley and LionTree Advisors to handle the process on behalf of the studio. On May 17, 2021, online retail and technology company Amazon entered negotiations to acquire the studio. The negotiations were made directly with MGM board chairman Kevin Ulrich whose Anchorage Capital Group is a major shareholder. On May 26, 2021, it was officially announced that MGM will be acquired by Amazon for $8.45 billion, subject to regulatory approvals and other routine closing conditions; with the studio continuing to operate as a label under Amazon's existing content arm, complementing Amazon Studios and Amazon Prime Video. On March 15, 2022, Amazon secured an unconditional European Union antitrust approval for its proposed acquisition of MGM.
On February 8, 2022, Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza became the studio's first fully produced, marketed and distributed film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 33 years, after 1988's Rain Man. On March 17, Amazon finalized the merger. Later that day, Amazon Studios and Prime Video SVP Mike Hopkins revealed that Amazon will continue to partner with United Artists Releasing, which will remain in operation to release all future MGM titles theatrically on a "case-by-case basis," while "all MGM employees will join my organization." It was also revealed that Amazon had no plans to make changes to the studio's production slate and release schedules nor make all MGM content exclusive to Prime Video, providing some hope that the studio would operate autonomously from Amazon Studios. These plans are expected to not impact the future of the James Bond franchise and its creative team. Two town halls further detailing MGM's future post-merger took place on March 18, which included one for MGM employees and one for Amazon Studios/Prime Video employees. Both revealed the new interim reporting structure as part of Amazon's "phased integration plan," which would involve De Luca, Mark Burnett (Chairman of MGM Worldwide Television) and COO Chris Brearton reporting to Hopkins on behalf of the studio. On March 22, the studio made its first post-merger acquisition with Luca Guadagnino's Bones & All, for which the studio purchased the global distribution rights. On April 27, 2022, it was announced that De Luca and Abdy would leave the studio.
Studio partners
In the decades before its 2010 reorganization, MGM has co-produced a small number of films with other studios, and even its own UA subsidiary just very briefly. As of 2019, they operate primarily as a production company with an expanded slate of 10-12 films a year,[152] selectively collaborating with larger studios on co-financing/co-producing films to minimize risk.[153] •Walt Disney Pictures (1980–present, Akalabeth: World of Doom) •Columbia Pictures (1975, The Wind and the Lion) •United Artists (1976, Network; 2007-2012, select films) •Warner Bros. (1977, The Goodbye Girl; 2012-present)[154][155][156][157] •New Line Cinema (2012-present, some films) •Lorimar (1981, The Postman Always Rings Twice) •Universal Pictures (2001, two films[158][159]; 2006, Nanny McPhee; 2019, Bond 25[160][161]) •Buena Vista Pictures (2003, It Runs in the Family) •Miramax/Dimension Films (2005, two films)[162][163] •The Weinstein Company (2005, The Brothers Grimm; 2008, Igor[164]) •Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group (2005-2018, select films)[155][156][154] •Paramount Pictures (2005, Yours, Mine and Ours[165]; 2013-present, select films)[154][155][156][157] •Relativity Media (2007-2009, two films)[154] •20th Century Fox (2015, Poltergeist)[166][167][155] •Lionsgate/Pantelion Films (2018, Overboard)[168][157]
Distribution
From 1924 to 1973 (worldwide) and 1981 to 2010 (domestically), MGM has theatrically distributed most of its movies entirely in-house, as well as those of United Artists after July 1981 and Orion Pictures after April 1997. In October 2017, seven years after shutting down their major distribution operations, MGM re-entered US theatrical distribution by launching an American joint venture with Annapurna Pictures that will share distribution financing between the two companies and release certain MGM and Annapurna films, beginning with the 2018 remake of Death Wish. Domestically through United Artists Releasing, an expansion of the US distribution joint venture since 2019,[149] MGM plans to release four to six films (including standalone and co-produced films) per year for worldwide release under the MGM banner, and two to four low budget genre films per year under the Orion Pictures banner.[153] Select films will also continue be released by or in partnership with co-production studio partners to mitigate risk.[153] There are periods when they outsourced distribution to other companies, as it follows: •United Artists (1973-1981, Anglo-America) •Cinema International Corporation (1973-1981, international) •United International Pictures (1981-2001, international; merger between CIC and United Artists' international arm) •20th Century Fox (2000-2010, international) •Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group (2005-2016, select films)[155][156][154] •Alliance Films (2006-2010, select films, Canada) •Lionsgate (2012, The Cabin in the Woods; 2018, Overboard[168]) •FilmDistrict (2012, Red Dawn only) •Warner Bros. (2012-present)[154][155][156][157] •StudioCanal (2014, select countries for RoboCop only)[169][170] •Universal Pictures (2019, Bond 25 for international theatrical and worldwide home entertainment distribution[160][161])
Since August 22, 2011, its headquarters have been in Beverly Hills, California.[180] MGM rents space in a six-story office building. The 144,000-square-foot (13,400 m2) 144,000-square-foot (13,400 m2) facility was originally constructed for the venerable William Morris talent agency, but had remained all but unoccupied until MGM's move because of the agency's merger with Endeavor Talent Agency in April 2009. MGM planned to house a private theater and a private outdoor patio in the building.[181]
Prior to 2003, its headquarters had been in the Colorado Center in Santa Monica, California,[182][183] occupying at least 150,000 square feet (14,000 m2) 150,000 square feet (14,000 m2) of space there. In 2000 MGM announced that it was moving its headquarters to a new building in Century City that was to be the first high-rise in Los Angeles to be completed in the 21st century. Upon the company's agreement to be its lead tenant halfway through the design building process, the structure became identified as the MGM Tower,[184] opening in 2003.[181] When MGM moved into the lavishly appointed spaces[182] devised by Alex Yemenidjian, former chairperson and chief executive of MGM, Roger Vincent and Claudia Eller observed in the Los Angeles Times that "Yemenidjian spared no expense in building out the studio's space with such Las Vegas-style flourishes as towering marble pillars and a grand spiral staircase lined with a wall of awards."[181]
Scott Johnson, the architect, designed the bottom third of the tower with extra-large floors so MGM executives could have outdoor decks. Seemingly no expense was spared, from the marble imported from Italy for MGM's area to the company's exclusive use of a dedicated private garage, security checkpoint, and elevator bank: all to enable celebrities who visited the complex discreet entry and exit, bypassing public spaces. One of three screening rooms placed in the tower was a 100-seat theater on the ground floor (later taken over by International Creative Management in December 2010). The 14th floor lobby housed the executive suites and a wall of Oscar statuettes for Academy Award-winning films. The street leading to the building's garage was renamed MGM Drive and a large MGM logo, illuminated at night, crowned the top of the building. As of December 2010, MGM rented 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m2) 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m2) of space in the MGM Tower at a cost of almost $5 per square foot per month.[181]
Emerging from bankruptcy protection in 2010, MGM announced that it planned to relocate the headquarters to Beverly Hills as part of an effort toward removing almost $5 billion in debt since the lease in Century City was not scheduled to expire until 2018. Vincent and Eller said that MGM's per square foot monthly rent would be far lower in the Beverly Hills building than in the MGM Tower. Larry Kozmont, a real estate consultant not involved in the process, said "It's a prudent move for them. Downsizing and relocating to a space that is still prominent but not overly ostentatious and burdened by expenses is fundamental for their survival."[181] MGM vacated its namesake tower on August 19, 2011.[180]
The studio's official motto, "Ars Gratia Artis", is a Latin phrase meaning "Art for art's sake".[185][186][page needed][187][page needed][188][page needed] It was chosen by Howard Dietz, the studio's chief publicist.[189][190][page needed][191][page needed] The studio's logo is a roaring lion surrounded by a ring of film inscribed with the studio's...
Turner Entertainment Co.
Following his brief ownership of the company in 1986, Ted Turner formed Turner Entertainment Co. as a holding company for the pre-May 1986 MGM film and television library, which he retained.[203] After Turner's holdings were purchased by Time Warner in 1996,[204] they ultimately became integrated into the Warner Bros. library,[205] though the copyright claimant to these titles is still "Turner Entertainment Co." For some time after the sale, MGM continued to handle home video distribution of its pre-May 1986 film and TV library and began to handle home video distribution of the pre-1950 Warner Bros. films; those rights were reassigned to Warner Home Video in 1999.[206]
Acquired libraries
Through its acquisitions of many different companies and film and television libraries, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has greatly enhanced its film and television holdings. As of 1998, MGM owned the rights to 5,200 films. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's library includes its own post-April 1986 library as well as the film and television libraries of: •United Artists,[207][208] including: •187 Monogram Pictures films released from 1931 to 1946[209] •Orion Pictures (post-September 1982 library),[205] including: •Filmways,[205] including: •American International Pictures[205] •MCEG Sterling Entertainment,[210] including: •Manson Distributing/Manson International[211] •The Samuel Goldwyn Company,[212] including: •Motion Picture Corporation of America (1986–1996 library) •PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (pre-March 31, 1996 library),[213][214] including: •Interscope Communications •The Virgin Films/Palace Pictures catalog •Island Pictures, including: •Atlantic Entertainment Group, including: •Clubhouse Pictures •CDR's Epic library •Castle Rock Entertainment (pre-1994 library) •Hemdale Film Corporation •Sherwood Productions/Gladden Entertainment •Nelson Entertainment, including: •Galactic Films, Inc. •Spikings Corporation[215] •Empire International Pictures,[216] including: •Urban Classics •Most of The Cannon Group, Inc. •21st Century Film Corporation[217]
Apr 29, 2024 · Today, MGM is an IP outpost purchased by Amazon for $8.5 billion in 2022, but in its day, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had the biggest lot in Hollywood and produced some of the most extravagant films.
MGM Studios - latest releases, Theatrical Showtimes and Tickets. Read about us, our news and updates. Where to rent and buy past films for home entertainment.
