Amazon buys the studio behind James Bond and other classic movies for $8.45 billion

Amazon has bought MGM, the studio behind the James Bond movies, for a whopping $8.45 billion.

"Amazon will help preserve MGM's heritage and catalogue of films, and provide customers with greater access to these existing works," the two companies said in a statement to announce the deal. The acquisition is Amazon's second biggest after it bought grocery chain Whole Foods for nearly $13.7 billion in 2017.

MGM was founded all the way back in 1924 and has produced movies including classics like Singin' in the Rain and 2001: A Space Odyssey, to more modern releases like Creed, A Star is Born, and, of course, all the James Bond movies. 

There's also the studio's TV output, which includes reality shows like Survivor and The Voice, as well as drama titles like Fargo and The Handmaid's Tale. Basically, it's safe to say that we can expect a lot of new viewing material to hit the streamer soon. Collectively, MGM productions have won more than 180 Oscars and 100 Emmys, so it's good quality viewing material, too. 

This is the latest move by Amazon to compete with other streamers like Netflix and Disney Plus – they recently bought the upcoming Chris Pratt-led sci-fi action movie The Tomorrow War for $200 million, as well as acquiring big comedy sequels Coming 2 America and Borat 2. Its original movies One Night in Miami and Sound of Metal were both nominated at this year's Oscars.

While we wait for the wealth of new movies and TV shows from MGM to arrive on the streamer, check out our list of the best movies on Amazon Prime that are available to watch right now.