On March 7th, Amazon MGM’s head of film, streaming, and theatrical announced that the studio will be releasing around 12 to 14 films theatrically. During the South by Southwest Film Festival Amazon Executives Courtenay Valenti and Sue Kroll spoke about the time they spent at Warner Brothers saying, “We’re deeply, deeply committed to theatrical personally. So it’s so exciting to be at a company … knowing that this company is committed to theatrical.”
Live sports seem to be Prime Video’s bread and butter right now; with their different options including their exclusive partnerships with the NFL for Thursday Night Football and their multi-year agreement with the WNBA for regular season and postseason games starting in 2026. Partnerships like these allow Amazon to give MGM the freedom to attempt theatrical releases.
The studio is also planning to release about 16 films internationally in 2027.
After Amazon’s acquisition of the James Bond franchise, it seems they’re trying to form their own movie to theater pipeline. Some would ask if this is a new age version of horizontal integration, and they would be correct.
The Paramount Decision of 1948 outlawed what is called horizontal integration; the business strategy where studios buy or merge with production and distribution companies in order to have complete control over the movie making process. Essentially, a movie making monopoly, and not the board game. A monopoly is what happens when a singular company has control over a product or service. With Amazon acquiring MGM, they have the ability to produce and distribute their content. Now with their plan to commit to theatrical releases, Amazon is one step away from having complete control over the three step process. Despite them already having somewhat of a horizontal hold with their streaming service, Amazon’s commitment to theaters is a bit of a shock as many theaters across the country are closing. So one must ask, why is Amazon MGM choosing to release movies in theaters all of a sudden?
After the merger, Amazon says they’re trying to find a balance between their innovative technology and practices and MGM’s prestigious film legacy, but really it seems they are trying to solidify the pipeline from studio to movie theater and their monopoly of the film industry.