One year after Amazon completed its US$8.5 billion purchases of Hollywood Studio MGM, the American tech company is now looking to develop new movie and TV projects from the studio’s rich library of intellectual properties, including RoboCop, Stargate, Legally Blonde, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Magnificent Seven, Pink Panther and more.
According to a report by Deadline, the company, which manages the Amazon Prime Video streaming serving and most recently co-produced movies including Ben Affleck’s Air under Amazon Studios, is at different levels of progress with various properties. It is understood that Amazon Studios has been developing a roster of talent that it wants to work with on some projects, while A-list creative talents have reached out to inquire about adapting properties that they are interested in.
At this time, Amazon is keen to steer several properties towards movies, while others towards TV, likely to support its fledgling streaming service. There are also properties that are being developed as concurrent movie and TV projects. It is also unclear on which properties are being looked at as sequels, revivals or reboots.
More recently, there has been talk in expanding the Legally Blonde duology, led by star Reese Witherspoon, for a potential sequel and TV series and sources say Amazon Studios is in active early conversation to push this property through. Still, talk of a Legally Blonde sequel have been popping up with great frequency for the last five years.
Premiering in 2001, Legally Blonde sees Witherspoon play law student Elle Woods, a student who applies for Harvard to win back her ex-boyfriend, only to realise she doesn’t need him. In the 2003 sequel, she starts working on Capitol Hill to support animal rights. The franchise has spawned a Broadway musical.
The company also has similar plans for its sci-fi franchise, Stargate, with both film and TV options under consideration, with a movie more likely to be made first. Premiering in 1994, the original movie sees the discovery of a large alien gateway that transports a team of military personnel to another planet beyond our solar system. This led to a successful TV franchise that served as a soft relaunch of the property that expanded on the gateway as a series of alien portals that connected hundreds of planets in this galaxy and the next. Stargate SG-1 (1997 – 2007) ran for 10 seasons, followed by spin-offs Stargate Atlantis (2004 – 2009) and Stargate Universe (2009 – 2011), with two TV movies, Stargate: The Ark of Truth (2008), and Stargate: Continuum (2008).
It also spawned a web series, video games, comic books and novels and while there have been attempts to rejuvenate the franchise in the past few years, the same of MGM limited further development.
Another hot property is RoboCop, which is being considered for both film and TV, though this time, a TV show is more likely to proceed first. Premiering in 1987, the movie about a half dead police officer in a futuristic city rebuilt as a cyborg for upholding law enforcement became a cult favourite, spawning several sequels, comic books, several TV shows, toys and even a 2014 reboot.
A direct sequel to the original film, tentatively titled RoboCop Returns, was previously mentioned though the sale of MGM left the project in development hell.
Given the immense library under MGM, Amazon Studios is reportedly actively developing projects around Fame, Barbershop and The Magnificent Seven as well.
There have also been discussions about a new movie based on the Thomas Crown Affair and Poltergeist, and another possible animated Pink Panther movie.
Developing a franchise around an existing IP isn’t new to Amazon, as the company has found success with the Rocky franchise, with a third movie in the Creed spin-off premiering this year. Amazon Studios has spoken with Creed star Michael B. Jordan for additional projects, and the studio recently signed a first-look deal with Sylvester Stallone, who created the Rocky franchise, and his Balboa Productions for film and TV projects, which can include Rocky.
The only MGM property that is not actively being worked on separately is the James Bond franchise. While it is the most important IP in MGM’s catalogue, Eon Productions, the production company behind the James Bond franchise, has been developing the next movie with a new actor to take on the mantle of the 007 agent. The twenty-sixth Bond film is likely regarded to be in good hands, and not a property that Amazon needs to develop further.
Hsals needs more space in his house, and more money in his bank account to pay for all the toys, collectibles and other geek related items that companies are churning out. Free-time? Girlfriend? Who’s got time for those?
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