09 Jul Silicon Valley Stalks the Cineplex [The Hollywood Reporter]
BY PAMELA MCCLINTOCK
July 9, 2025 | Even in Hollywood, there are likely few people who know what separates a major studio from the rest. No, it isn’t an Oscar win. Nor it is a hangar of private jets (though that certainly doesn’t hurt on the image front). Rather, it’s the ability to release movies not only in North America but throughout the world without having to rely on a third-party distribution partner. It may be technical, but the difference matters.
At this moment, there are only five major studios — Disney, Universal, Warner Bros., Sony and Paramount. But change is afoot as Amazon MGM Studios embarks on building out a foreign distribution apparatus in the next 18 months to two years, after announcing it intends to release as many as 15 titles annually in cinemas before they hit Prime Video, including 14 in 2026 alone.
If that happens, Amazon will become the first interloper from the tech world to run a full-fledged major Hollywood studio. The ecommerce giant certainly has incentive, considering it’s the newly minted owner of the James Bond franchise. Universal has the rights to distribute the next 007 movie internationally, but after that, Amazon MGM will fly solo and no longer have to share revenue. (The latest entry, No Time to Die, grossed a huge $774 million globally.)
Amazon MGM, led by Mike Hopkins, isn’t the only invader reshaping the theatrical landscape (he is also head of Prime Video). The streamers — save for Netflix — sound more and more like the legacy studio bosses in extolling the positive impact a theatrical release can have on a movie’s profile. Case in point: Apple Original Films’ 2025 summer tentpole F1: The Movie arguably would never have gotten the attention it has were it not released in cinemas. The critically acclaimed movie, just released June 27, already has earned nearly $300 million globally.
Then there’s David Ellison, whose Skydance Media is on the verge of winning approval to take over Paramount Global, owned for decades by the Sumner Redstone family. The $8 billion deal will put another family at the helm of the ailing Paramount Pictures and streaming service Paramount+; only in this case, the dynasty is led by tech giant and Oracle founder Larry Ellison.