Red One

Source: Warner Bros

‘Red One’

Amazon MGM Studios is believed to be planning the launch of its own international theatrical distribution arm to handle releases after the company’s current deal with Warner Bros ends. 

The international output deal with Warner, signed in 2022, a few months after tech giant Amazon closed its $8.5bn acquisition of MGM, is thought to expire at the end of 2025. The deal has covered the release of films including Creed III, a $276m global hit, as well as 2024 launches Red One and Challengers. 

Amazon MGM’s releases scheduled for 2026 include include sci-fi outing Mercy, with Timur Bekmambetov directing Chris Pratt, and Working Title-produced action comedy Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie, with Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson. 

Amazon MGM’s plan to handle its own international distribution, first reported by Deadline, comes as the company ramps up its theatrical distribution activity. The studio is set to make its first formal presentation since the Amazon and MGM operations merged at April’s Cinemacon exhibition conference in Las Vegas. 

An in-house international distribution operation at the studio could eventually take on the release of future installments in Eon Productions’ James Bond franchise. Universal Pictures is set to handle international distribution of the next franchise entry, currently known as Bond 26, under a deal it signed before Amazon’s MGM buy. The most recent Bond film, 2021’s No Time To Die, was released internationally by Universal soon after the acquisition of MGM was announced. 

Amazon MGM representatives declined to comment on the record about the reported international distribution plan.

 

 

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