Rumor: Apple and Amazon bid for James Bond film rights

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According to sources from The Hollywood Reporter, Amazon and Apple are competing for the film and distribution rights for James Bond. The two companies would do so because owning the rights could give their streaming platforms greater market share.

Sources from The Hollywood Reporter say Apple’s Jamie Erlicht and Zack van Amburg are involved in the negotiation. The two were appointed by Apple as Heads of Programming in June. The two Hollywood veterans were until recently employed by Sony. Their involvement could mean that Apple has intentions to not only distribute movies, but also make a TV series, for example.

The rights are currently in the hands of MGM, which has been trying to sell them for some time. Warner Bros. would be the most obvious candidate so far, but Sony, Universal and Fox are also bidding. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the distribution rights should bring in about two to five billion dollars. Due to interest from Apple and Amazon, Warner Bros. hurry to close the deal before the tech companies get that chance.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Apple is investing $1 billion in making and purchasing TV series. That budget would be in the hands of Erlicht and Amburg. It is not yet clear whether Apple plans to come up with a new streaming service, or whether it wants to continue to offer more series and movies through its current services.

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