I'm just look forward to getting Bill & Ted Superbits

Might be, but the BIG question is WHEN?And who gets the bigger share of the pie might be the battle still fought.Since MGM and New Line were still battling on it.

Do not be surprised to see a deal like New Line US Distribution and Sony Worldwide Distribution with some money kicked in from Sony and both make out with some profits.


Then they pay off Saul Zaentz and everyone is happy.

Nah, Ralph Bakshi and internet fanboys will still bitch. Bakshi because he's not getting a kickback, and internet fanboys... just because.

MGM may have had it's faults - but they were a very soild studio for delivering obscure titles at very good prices. The Midnight Movies line for one, the Canon Films releases for another - both series are pretty bare bones ('side from a trailer), both have pretty good prints, and both can be found for under a 10 spot. And they delivered disc after disc like that.

Will Sony keep up this good work? I have my doubts.

I'm just hoping for:

Remo Williams: Superbit

I mean, just to have it in anamorphic widescreen would be a bonus.

MGM released SO MANY POS P&S titles in the past two years that it can only be a good thing that they've been bought out.

What's the last great special edition that MGM put out? The Good the Bad and the Ugly? West Side Story? I can't even think of any other decent ones.

Not that CTS is the master of the special edition. Damn. It's still a shame that WB didn't buy them. That would have been great for DVD fans.

But now with Blu-Ray coming, maybe Sony will put more energy into their home video releases. I mean, Fox used to be horrible at DVD and then in 2000 they put out that great Fight Club 2-disc set (the first 2-disc for a new film on DVD, which set a new precedent - now even crappy films get 2-discs) and continued to put out great 2-disc SEs since.

So maybe it's Sony's turn not to suck.

C'mon, CTS. Step up to the plate. With the economy turning around now it's your chance to shine and take more of my money.

Maybe they will bring inserts back!!! But the SRP will probably be 10.00 more.

What about the MGM TV library?Seems like slim pickings on DVD.

The NYT take on Sony buying MGM and what it might mean for Blu-ray:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The New York Times

September 15, 2004

Sony Set to Exert Influence on Discs
By KEN BELSON and ANDREW ROSS SORKIN

he purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a group led by Sony will not only give the company an enormous film library but also considerable power in its fight to set the format for the next generation of digital video discs.

The transition to the new discs, which are not expected to be widely available until next year at the earliest, could generate billions of dollars in royalties to the developers of the technology that runs them. Sony, as part of the Blu-ray Disc Association, a consortium of major electronics makers, is at the forefront of efforts to develop the new technological standard.

As a major consumer electronics company, Sony could also reap the benefits of selling the new generation of disc players the new format would require. Sony's success in the standards battle is far from certain, because the rival HD DVD group, led by Toshiba and NEC, is championing its own format.

By buying MGM's studio and its library of movies, industry experts say, Sony is trying to tilt the long fight over the new DVD format in its direction.

Both consortiums say their new discs will hold four to five times more digital video and audio data than the DVD currently on the market, enough to store the high-definition programs and films that are slowly making their way to the consumer market.

The HD DVD group, which is showing off its technology to Hollywood studios this week, contends that its new discs are cheaper to make and more compatible with existing DVD technology. The Blu-ray group, which includes Panasonic, Philips and Samsung, however, says that its discs have the advantage because they offer superior images, among other benefits.

The key to resolving the tug of war between the two groups, experts say, will depend on the Hollywood studios because they provide most of the content that will go on the discs. The studios also have a huge stake in the change to the new technology because they now make more money from DVD sales than from box office sales. They also lose millions of dollars a year from pirated DVD's.

But with the exception of Sony's movie division, which includes the Columbia and TriStar studios, that naturally backs the Blu-ray format, the movie studios have so far avoided backing one standard despite intense lobbying by both the Blu-ray and HD DVD groups. By buying MGM, Sony will be adding another studio to the list of Blu-ray backers, and a catalog of 4,000 movies that could be issued exclusively in the Blu-ray format.

"It further tips scales that were already tipped toward Blu-ray," said Ross Rubin, a consumer electronics analyst at the NPD Group.

Executives close to Sony said that bolstering its position in the battle of DVD formats was one of several important factors in its decision to pursue MGM. Indeed, the management of Sony of America helped sell the idea of bidding for MGM to its Japanese parent in some early internal meetings by promoting "the Blu-ray angle," the executives said.

Still, the executives noted that the Blu-ray format was "only one reason" for pursuing a bid for MGM. The executives cited a litany of other financial and strategic reasons for the deal, including being able to exploit MGM's films on Sony's other platforms like its PlayStation game consoles and even its cellphones, which it makes through a joint venture with Ericsson.

A spokeswoman for Sony declined to comment.

Sony, though, faces several risks in buying MGM. By building a large film library, which makes up an estimated 17 percent of available film titles, Sony could end up threatening the same studios it is trying to win over to the Blu-ray group. Sony, intentionally or not, may give the appearance that it is willing to start producing Blu-ray discs on its own, regardless of what the HD DVD group does, or what the studios want.

The studios and retailers do not want two formats because that would confuse consumers, and may mean having to produce two sets of DVD's for each film release.

Sony "can pose a more credible threat to launch on their own," said Tom Adams, the president of Adams Media Research in Carmel, Calif. "On the other hand, Sony of all companies has been badly burned by having new technologies launched in two formats." Sony was the big loser in the battle over the video cassette format, with VHS becoming the dominant format over Sony's Betamax.

Indeed, if the studios sense that Sony and the Blu-ray group is pushing its format too hard, it may benefit the HD DVD group. The other studios could try to counter what they see as Sony's growing influence by backing the opposing format, industry analysts say.

A Toshiba spokesman, Keisuke Oomori, said Sony's acquisition of MGM would not affect the plans of the HD DVD group. The HD DVD group, he said, has made "substantial progress standardizing our formats" and is "gaining positive understanding for our format from the Hollywood studios."

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

So what becomes of MGM's DVDs?

MGM and Columbia seem to have very different philosophies when it comes to DVD. MGM aggressively releases tons of material at low prices, while Columbia seems to play rather conservative with their release strategy, by being hesitant to dip into the catalog and by pricing their DVDs higher.

It's rather apparent that Sony has acquired the MGM library to beef its own upcoming format, but where does that leave DVD, the format that is already extremely successful?

Will Sony be cutting back on its DVD support in order to promote Blu-ray? Where does that leave all of the titles that MGM has released so far? Will they be taken out of print in anticipation for Blu-ray? Should I start buying up MGM DVDs now before Sony lets them slip out of print?

Considering the success of DVD... and let's face it, it has replaced VHS and LD in short order... isn't DVD the primary competition for Blu-ray, and not HD-DVD (whenever it comes out)?

I just don't see a lot of people jumping onto the Blu-ray bandwagon at this stage of the game.

No way I would risk buying an expensive HD-DVD or Blu Ray player and discs when there was no guarantee of which format will win out. The two technologies are very different, so the loser will probably vanish completely leaving you with a Betamax.

I hope this gets worked out before the formats hit the stores.

RETAILERS CONSIDER SONY/MGM DEAL
MGM lauded for packaging, pricing in catalog titles
By Susanne Ault 9/17/2004

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SEPT. 17 | Retailers are roaring about the home video vitality of an MGM-bolstered Sony, with the studio now primed to capture the Lion and its massive film library.

Sony agreed in principle to acquire MGM largely because of its 4,000-title movie library, which includes rights to the enormously profitable James Bond franchise. The latest 007 installment Die Another Day moved 16 million DVDs worldwide last year (see chart).

Retailers laud MGM Home Entertainment for packaging and pricing catalog titles for maximum marketability, and they expect Sony's Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment to borrow heavily from the Lion playbook.

"MGM has been more creative," said Fred Fox, executive VP merchandising and marketing at Trans World Entertainment. "They understand how to mine their jewel. I'm hoping that Sony is committed to driving those sales as aggressively as MGM has done. I think it would be a poor decision on Columbia's part to walk away from MGM's success in courting retailers."

Under the terms of the acquisition deal, which is expected to take several months to finalize, Sony is set to pay $12 a share for MGM. That translates to a price tag of roughly $2.94 billion, and Sony has agreed to assume some $2 billion in MGM debt.

Another MGM suitor, Time Warner, reportedly balked at paying anything more than $11 a share.

Meanwhile, the consensus among video outlets is that MGM typically squeezes in loads of special features into such recent catalog releases as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. In contrast, CTHE regularly rolls out relatively thinner editions of older films, at sometimes higher pricing, managers say.

"Of all the studios, MGM was the one really making the deluxe editions," said Norm Hill, promotions director at Seattle independent Scarecrow Video "For between $9.95 and $14.95--that's ideal for the consumer. Sony does bare-bone DVDs for $24.99. We don't bring much of their stuff in because nobody buys it."

Hill added that Scarecrow has a whole wall specifically dedicated to MGM titles and echoes Trans World's Fox in the "hope that Sony will come up to speed to where MGM was."

One retailing insider mused that although MGM is an icon among store circles, Sony is the company with the upperhand in the merger.

"I don't think Sony will completely abandon MGM trademark policies, but I know the people who are running it, and they will want to put their own stamp on it," said the source. "If they think they can do better at a different [higher price], they will. It would be naïve to think that they will adhere to all MGM policies."

To its credit, CTHE is better known for its slew of blockbuster new releases than catalog offerings within its 2,500-title library. Blue-blood fourth-quarter rollouts include Fahrenheit 9/11, Seinfeld and Spider-Man 2.

MGM's library arguably holds a stinker or two. Tom Adams, head of Adams Media Research, figures that 1,500 to 2,000 MGM titles can be exploited on DVD.

"A lot of it, like all studios that have been around for 50 to 100 years, is stuff that is not super-valuable," explained Adams. But even so, "MGM would definitely beef up anyone's roster with great movies," he said.

In the Lion library, top-notch Rocky and Pink Panther franchises sit alongside much more modest fare such as Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter. About 1,900 of MGM's 4,000 library titles trace to the Orion Pictures catalog, which the Lion acquired in 1997.

MGM picked up another 1,300 titles from purchasing Polygram in 1999, and the remainder involves titles from United Artists.

The studio also owns 10,000 episodes of TV programming. It's a mixed bag there as well, with potential gems including Greenacres and Stargate SG-1 as well as older, less exploitable shows such as Bat Masterson and Sea Hunt.

"Strategically, this will be great for Sony," said David Miller, senior VP and equity analyst at investment bank Sanders Morris Harris in Los Angeles. "The price is high, [but Sony] is getting the James Bond franchise, getting Pink Panther and getting Rocky."

Overall in 2003, MGM shipped 120 million DVD units worldwide--a 50% improvement over the previous year. MGM's video unit produced more than $1 billion in worldwide revenue last year.

Helping Sony nail down the MGM coup was Comcast. The cable giant agreed to forge unspecified cable and video-on-demand services based on the Lion catalog. In exchange, Comcast won the right to take a minority stake in the studio at some point in the future.

Differences between Sony and MGM video units are also bubbling into water-cooler talk over possible merger layoffs. MGM's expert handling of its library leads industry insiders to bet that a number of Lion staffers will manage to find homes at CTHE.

In more than doubling its own library holdings, CTHE could use the extra help of additional employees. "It behooves Sony to take a hard look at [MGM] people to see if there are places in the organization for them," Sanders Morris' Miller observed.

About 45% of MGM's 1,300 employees are in home video operations.

There is also the question of the merger's effect on MGM's DVD premiere activities.

In the midst of merger negotiations, MGM announced a heavy production slate of DVD premiere sequels (VB, 8-27). On deck for a Dec. 7 release is Species III.

In any case, the merger with Sony portends a possible return to MGM's old stomping ground. That's because Sony's lot in Culver City, Calif., includes the old MGM production lot, which MGM head Kirk Kerkorian sold off several years ago.

MGM employees are located in Century City and Santa Monica.

I can say this much...a title that is non-anamorphic here (Force 10 From Navarone) is being released this week in Brazil under Sony and has an anamorphic transfer.

Could be a good thing??

So is Sony still Japanese owned? Does that mean that the Japanese own the rights to some great american film history?

Considering MGM sold off most of that film history to Ted Turner I would say no. Granted there is some good stuff in the current MGM catalog, but the true American classics are owned by Warner Bros.

Phew... I mean that, to me, would be as bad as Michael Jackson owning the Beatles catalogue.

Just like the article stated, Sony now owns some big hits from MGM's existing catalog such as the James Bond films, Silence of the Lambs, the Rocky series, Pink Panther, Legally Blonde, and Dances with Wolves, but MGM hasn't been a true hitmaker in the past twenty. They've basically relied on Bond and the occasional hit (Legally Blonde, Thomas Crown Affair, Birdcage) to stay afloat. Sony really didn't get much with the purchase, but the Bond films will certainly be a big driver in the HD video era just as they were for VHS and DVD.

Interesting articles. So Sony now owns Polygram pre-1996 and Universal owns it 1996+? I just want to know who I have to hassle to get a Special Edition of "The Game".

Me

4100+ films and 10,000+ hours of TV is a lot IMO. Bet Warner is kicking themselves right now that Hd-dvd is literally falling apart and this pick-up could have outed Sony from the start.

Yeah, there is some really good stuff in there, but the true film history is safely with Warner and Warner has done an excellent job with it to this point. Granted there are still a lot of things unreleased, but they have taken a lot of care with most of their recent 30's and 40's film offerings.

I really doubt Sony would put any effort into old films so I'm glad they didn't get their hands on that catalog. They have yet to show any of the quality even MGM was putting into recent releases. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Sony will do some quality releases of the rest of the Man With No Name trilogy and the Bond series.