Amazon brings James Bond, Rocky to fight Netflix with $8.5 billion MGM buy

FILE PHOTO: The Amazon logo is seen at the Young Entrepreneurs fair in Paris, France, February 7, 2018. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

(Reuters) -Amazon.com Inc will buy MGM, the fabled U.S. movie studio home to the James Bond franchise, for $8.45 billion, giving it a huge library of films and TV shows and ramping up competition with streaming rivals led by Netflix and Disney+.

The deal aims to bolster Amazon's television-focused studio with new and historic filmmaking from MGM, which has snapped up lucrative series including "Rocky" and "Tomb Raider" since its founding in 1924.