After several postponements, the D day of Hollywood's comeback is finally fixed: the8 October 2021 the latest James Bond will be released in cinemas, “No time to die”, partly filmed on the streets of Rome, a virtual victim of the pandemic that kept the cinemas of the planet closed for a long, interminable year. But there is something new. Presenting the deeds of Daniel Craig will not be a Hollywood tycoon descended from Sam Goldwyn, but none other than Jeff Bezos, or the richest man in the world which, anticipates the Wall Street Journal, is preparing to close the negotiation for the purchase of an icon in the history of cinema this week: MGM, yes indeed Metro Goldwyn Meyer, destined to flesh out the Prime Video catalog, i.e. the Amazon's number one streaming platform, determined to snatch the leadership of home entertainment from the other Bigs, namely Netflix, Disney and Apple, among other things beaten on the wire after a long negotiation.
The operation, the most important in the history of the e-commerce giant after the one for the purchase of supermarkets Whole Foods (13,7 billion dollars), is destined to mark a new stage in the delicate relations between the web giants and the rest of the economy, increasingly in check at the time of the pandemic: 9 billion in all, including 3,5 billion in debt to buy a catalog ranging from the Pink Panther” to “Singing in the Rain” as well as “Rocky”. And, of course, all James Bond, and some hugely successful TV series like Fargo. The pre-1948 catalogue, already sold previously, including "Via col Vento" is not part of the deal.
What catches the eye is that the strategy of the various Google, Apple and Amazon it has expanded from the web and electronics to other more promising areas of business, from the automobile, frequented by Waymo (Alphabet) and soon by the Apple car, preceded by the Taiwanese ally of Foxconn, up to the world of entertainment. Not only cinema or entertainment, but also sport. Amazon, which does not hide its interest in European soccer, already controls American football rights ($1,2 billion a year) as well as the music market. But Bezos' next goal seems to be to become number one in US cinema, thanks to an offensive based on billionaire investments: the TV series dedicated to the "Lord of the Rings”, a $465 million production for the first series alone along with other upcoming billion-dollar products from Paramount. But Bezos was stopped by Netflix in the race for the Sony Pictures catalog.
Anywhere, anyhow, a precise script is imposed: the big chains suffer, as evidenced by the decision of the Chinese Dalian Wanda to sell the majority stake in AMC, the most important cinema network in the world. And streaming steals space from other forms of entertainment: Warner, sold by AT&T to the new company created with Discovery, has decided to release films simultaneously in theaters and via TV, a choice which, it seems, is working for now.
Stay there feeling of overwhelming power of the new monopolies which is arousing the reaction of Washington as well as of the European Union, worried about the cultural invasion at the gates. A congressional report explicitly accuses Amazon of exercising monopoly power which, as has happened in relations with various partners, leads to unfair competition. Dry the Bezos reply: “All the big ones attract the attention of the authorities. But it is not certain that the great ones necessarily abuse their own strength. Indeed, this presumption is simply wrong. Which did not prevent the Republican Ken Buck, a member of the antitrust commission, from anticipating his negative vote on the MGM operation. “This is another example of the total domination Big Tech is achieving in our economy. If we don't take action, soon there won't be a single sector beyond their control."
