This just in: Amazon now owns James Bond.

Amazon, the massive corporation that made a name for itself as an online retailer before branching out to other industries, is set to acquire the Metro Goldwyn Mayer movie studio in a deal that's worth an estimated $8.45 billion.

The deal was officially announced on Wednesday, May 26, following a week full of rumors about the acquisition.

What's Next for Amazon and James Bond?

In the official news release, Amazon said that it will "empower MGM to continue to do what they do best: great storytelling."

Amazon's acquisition of MGM also gives them rights to some 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows. Or, basically, all films MGM has released after 1986. Unfortunately, films released before 1986 aren't included as part of the deal. Those are owned and controlled by Turner Entertainment Company. Interestingly enough, the said division of WarnerMedia is also in the middle of its own acquisition.

Amazon will likely add MGM's treasure trove of films and TV shows to its own streaming service, Amazon Prime Video, in an attempt to bolster its offerings.

>In addition to the existing library of TV shows and films, Amazon's acquisition also means that the company will now have rights to MGM's slate of upcoming films. Naturally, this includes the James Bond movie, No Time to Die, which has seen numerous delays. Other noteworthy films include Paul Thomas Anderson's Soggy Bottom and Ridley Scott's House of Gucci, among others.

Amazon now also owns the rights to characters and series' like Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Rocky, as well as Legally Blonde and The Pink Panther. Weirdly enough, Amazon won't completely own other pieces that are part of each series' universe. For example, MGM doesn't completely own the rights to Clarice Starling, so Amazon, by extension, won't completely on the rights to the character as well.

With that said, it'll be interesting to see just how much control Amazon will have over the James Bond franchise now that it owns MGM.

It's worth noting that MGM only owns 50% of the rights to the James Bond character. The other half belongs to the Broccoli family. This means that Amazon will have to get the Broccoli family to sign off on any creative decision related to James Bond. Because of this, it's highly unlikely that Amazon will consider releasing a spin-off TV show based in the James Bond universe. Then again, if Amazon is willing to do the legwork, it's certainly within the realm of possibility.