Updated with confirmation and termination notes: MGM Head of the animation group Michael De Luca And the president Bam Abdi Sources said the studio will be leaving. This comes after Amazon’s acquisition of the studio.
AP
With the pieces being held in place at compact studios like Warner Bros. Discovery (which has recently been a rumored landing spot for De Luca and Abdy), the pending development highlights how Amazon is consolidating venerable MGM’s assets into Amazon after the latter paid the studio $8.45 billion to the studio and its 4,000 title library. De Luca was rumored to have several other jobs, but he had a contract that runs until early next year. Now that they were allowed out, they would be able to seize one of the opportunities out there. MGM will likely act as a theater sister to Amazon, and they will be looking to hire a new president to run this studio. This scenario would favor the position of United Artists Releasing, distributor Erik Lomis- and Gerry Rich who oversaw the release of No Time to Die Gucci House Dog Cyrano Respect The Adams Family And man angry. This company is jointly owned by Annapurna, but there is absolutely a reason that it will fall under the Amazon fold and continue to release and market MGM fare theatrically.
He and Abdi have made the most of their time at MGM, regularly competing for big star packages and dropping some off. It included Peace be upon you, Mary projectconditioning Martian Written by Andy Weir, starring Ryan Gosling, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. De Luca, a respected photo picker dating back to his New Line days and going on at Sony before becoming a producer at Universal, has started to amass an organization of filmmakers. The first show was there Licorice pizza From Paul Thomas Anderson, who made dance night And magnolia With De Luca in those days of power.
On the Amazon side, the movie department has risen from a stature like fare Manchester by the sea And big patient For movies like Michael B without remorseDirected by George Clooney tender barChris Pine is a writer All the old knives.
It was an open question whether De Luca and Abdy would control the image business at Amazon the way they did at MGM, or would they report to chairwoman Jennifer Salke, who ran both television and film through head of film Julie Rapaport. As it often happens, the advantage lies with the incumbent. And despite the glowing stories about De Luca and Abdy that gave the impression they were coming to run the film’s show, Amazon and Salke seem to remain loyal to their team and the big advantage of MGM’s massive deal is the library, and a stake in the James Bond franchise, even though my latter producers give theatrical performance and unlikely to move the franchise into a streaming focus.
There are rumors that De Luca and Abdy wanted MGM to remain a movie studio separate from Amazon, something the new owners weren’t willing to give. De Luca had a solid production company when he returned to the executive suite and good talent relationships. It will be interesting to see the next place that will land, which will likely be along with Abdi.
The story is developing. For now, here are the internal memos just sent by De Luca, Abdi, and Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Prime Video & Amazon Studios:
Dear Colleagues,
A little over two years ago, we came to MGM to help restore its revival among the studios of the last century, and we’re proud to say, Thank you all for your efforts, mission accomplished. With our goal accomplished, and as we look forward, we feel now is the time for us to move on and explore the next chapter and the challenge. We will be leaving our roles this summer. We are confident that the exciting vision that Prime Video and Amazon Studios have for MGM and the organization that Mike Hopkins is building, along with Jennifer Salk and his team, will ensure MGM’s continued success.
Beginning in early 2020, we’ve had the opportunity to revitalize and rapidly grow MGM’s movie slate by creating a home for the world’s best storytellers making films for a global audience. We could not have imagined that soon after our arrival the world would be affected by a pandemic that essentially shut down our industry, nor could we have foreseen the various immediate and long-term challenges that the pandemic would put our way.
With the support of every member of MGM’s production team, and with our filmmaking partners at our side, we’ve been able to return to filmmaking and eventually put together a huge selection of films, from filmmakers including Ridley Scott, Paul Thomas Anderson, Joe Wright, Channing Tatum , Caroline Reed, Ron Howard, George Miller, Billy Porter, Sarah Polley, Chinoni Choco, Corey Finley, Zach Braff, George Clooney, Michael B Jordan, Emma Seligman, Luca Guadagnino, Zoe Kravitz, Rachel Morrison and many others, aiming to create a group A movie that will attract every type of audience. Among our list are several films from Orion Pictures, which we relaunched under the leadership of Alana Mayo in August of 2020 amid the long-awaited examination of America’s relationship with race, with the goal of making films focused exclusively on – and brought to us by – underrepresented voices.
It has been an honor and a privilege for us to head a renovated studio, with our partners Eon, the correct release date for Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond and to see the film become one of the highest-grossing films of 2021; Also watching the studio, he received eight Academy Awards and seventeen BAFTA nominations, with Licorice Pizza receiving the studio’s first Best Picture Academy nomination in more than thirty years.
You and our colleagues at UAR, Universal, and all of our filmmakers have made it all possible, and we’re so grateful to have you as a part of such an amazing team. We’re also grateful to Kevin Ulrich and everyone at Anchorage Capital, along with Chris Brearton, for bringing us in and we wish everyone at Prime Video, Amazon Studios, and MGM anything but the best of success moving forward.
sincerely,
Michael De Luca and Pam Abdi
***
good morning team,
As I just read, Mike and Pam have decided to leave MGM to pursue the next chapter of their careers. I know you’ll join me in thanking them for their leadership, and working with each of you to deliver compelling storytelling to audiences around the world. We wish them continued success.
As I said at Town Hall in March, nurturing MGM’s legacy of high-quality storytelling is a top priority. MGM has already become the home of great storytellers. And this house will only expand, as we invest and work together to release an even larger theatrical slate in the coming years. Doing so requires a great team, and the more we get to know you all, the more we like them.
Mike and Pam are leaving this summer, which will allow us to continue our step-by-step, thoughtful approach to integration with Prime Video and Amazon Studios. In the meantime, the current temporary structure is still in place.
We thank you for all of your commitment and dedication, as we together continue to produce extraordinary film and television for a diverse global audience.
mike