Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC (

d/b/a A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

MGM Home Entertainment and formerly known as MGM Home Video, MGM/CBS Home Video and MGM/UA Home Video) is the

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...

division of the American media company

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

History

1978–1982

In 1978, the company was established as MGM Home Video, releasing MGM films and TV shows. In 1980, MGM joined forces with CBS Video Enterprises, the home video division of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

television network, and established MGM/CBS Home Video. In October of that year, they released their first batch of Betamax and VHS tapes. The initial printings of all 24 films were packaged in brown leather clamshell cases with gold lettering; they were presented to CBS executives. Later printings of these films, as well as all printings of later releases by MGM/CBS, were packaged in oversized gray book-style boxes with either the MGM Abstract Lion print logo or CBS Video print logo in the upper right hand corner of the packaging. MGM/CBS also issued some early tapes of

Lorimar Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Televisi ...

product; those releases would instead bear the Lorimar print logo where the MGM or CBS Video print logo would normally be. In 1981, MGM/CBS and Samuel Goldwyn Home Entertainment co-marketed five titles, mainly independent titles, with CBS Video Enterprises having distribution of its titles.

1982–1998

In 1982, a year after MGM bought and merged with the near-bankrupt

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

from Transamerica, CBS dropped out of the video partnership with MGM and moved to

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

to create CBS/Fox Video. MGM's video division became known as MGM/UA Home Entertainment Group, Inc., more commonly known as MGM/UA Home Video. MGM/UA continued to license pre-1981 UA and pre-1950 WB films (as well as some post-1981 titles) to CBS/Fox (due to an agreement UA had with Fox years earlier dating back to when CBS/Fox Home Video was called

Magnetic Video Magnetic Video Corporation was a home video/home audio duplication service that operated between 1968 and 1982. History Magnetic Video Corporation was established by the co-founder Andre Blay, an American film producer in 1968 with Leon Nichols ...

). In 1982, the company had entered into an agreement with

The Cannon Group The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested ...

to release titles from the mini-major film studio all the way to 1985 in order to help out the strongest library slate, the deal was reupped on April 5, 1983, continuing until 1985. In 1983, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Group paid $60,000,000 for 40-year rights and a 10-year option for all future films as well as its library, and having an option to move to non-feature film production. In 1985, it entered into an agreement with Rene Malo Video to handle Canadian distribution of various MGM/UA product. In 1986, MGM's pre-May 1986 library (also including the pre-1950

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

library, '' Bugs Bunny: Superstar'', the

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...

/ Famous Studios ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

library), was acquired by

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, cable news ch ...

and his company

Turner Entertainment Co. Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

After the library was acquired, MGM/UA signed a deal with Turner to continue distributing the pre-May 1986 MGM and to begin distributing the pre-1950 Warner Bros. libraries for video release (the rest of the library went to

Turner Home Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

). That year, it inked an agreement with

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

and his film studio Concorde Pictures that enabled MGM/UA worldwide access to motion pictures that was produced by his Concorde film studio for $30 million for foreign release of Concorde's upcoming titles, plus $40 million in cash paid by Corman for domestic home video and pay television agreement with the company, making it for the first time, the company made a partnership with a major studio, and Concorde first sold theatrical rights, in 1987, to various different companies. In October 1990, after

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

bought MGM, MGM/UA Home Video struck a deal with

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...

to have them distribute MGM/UA titles exclusively on home video. MGM/UA began distributing the UA library after its contract with CBS/Fox ended. In 1994, MGM/UA Home Video launched the MGM/UA Family Entertainment label for family-friendly releases. In 1996, Warner made an exclusive deal with

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

to distribute MGM/UA titles on

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...

. They also acquired a majority of the

Cannon Films The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested ...

library (certain rights for other media and select films during the Thorn EMI merger now lie with other entities with few exceptions, and the post-1991 films, as they are owned by Warner Bros. as well as other Cannon titles distributed by that company, as well as television and digital rights are now owned by

Paramount Media Networks Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...

under

Paramount Television Studios Paramount Television Studios (formerly known as Paramount Television from 2013 to 2020) is an American television production and distribution company, that is a division of Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It is the succe ...

(formerly

CBS Television Distribution CBS Media Ventures, Inc. (formerly CBS Television Distribution, Inc. and CBS Paramount Domestic Television, Inc.) is an American television distribution company owned by CBS Studios, part of CBS Entertainment Group, a division of Paramount Glob ...

), successor to parent company

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

's syndication unit.) after Pathé acquired the company. In 1997, MGM/UA, along with the other studios that were distributed by Warner Home Video, began releasing its titles on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

. Some of the films MGM released on DVD were from the Turner catalog, which they were still allowed to keep after Turner merged into

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

some time before because of their distribution deal. That same year, MGM acquired Orion Pictures. As a result, Orion Home Video (Orion's home video division) was absorbed by MGM/UA, and was retained as an in-name-only division until the acquisition deal was finalized in 1998. That year, the company was renamed MGM Home Entertainment.

1998–2005

After the Orion merger, MGM kept Orion intact as a corporation, mostly to avoid its video distribution agreement with Warner Home Video, and began distributing Orion Pictures films under the Orion Home Video label. MGM acquired the 2/3 of pre-1996

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (formerly known as PolyGram Films and PolyGram Pictures or simply PFE) was a British film studio founded in 1979 which became a European competitor to Hollywood, but was eventually sold to Seagram Company Ltd. in ...

library from

Seagram The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the lar ...

in 1999 for $250 million, increasing their library holdings to 4,000. The PolyGram libraries (which included the Epic film library) were purchased by its Orion Pictures subsidiary so as to avoid its 1990 video distribution agreement with Warner. In March 1999, MGM bought out its distribution contract with Warner Bros. for $225 million, effectively ending the distribution problem; the initial deal was to have expired in 2003, but instead it would end in February 2000. As a result of the deal, MGM gave up the home video rights to the MGM/UA films owned by Turner to

. Upon the expiration of the Warner deal, MGM sold overseas video rights to

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...

. In 2001, MGM and

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

launched the "MGM Movie Vault" to distribute VHS copies of selected films, either previously unreleased on video or long out-of-print, exclusively through Amazon. On March 3, 2003, MGM Home Entertainment launched the MGM Kids sub-label. In May 2003, MGM reinstated full distribution rights to their products in regions like Australia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, although Fox would continue to distribute for MGM in a majority of developing regions.

2005–2019

In 2005, following MGM's acquisition by the

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

-led consortium, MGM released its newest content through Sony Pictures Home Entertainment under the standard MGM label. In 2006, after MGM ended its distribution agreement with Sony, the company announced that it would sign a new distribution deal with

. Originally, DVD releases of MGM/UA and Columbia TriStar co-releases continued to be distributed by SPHE, since Sony then still owned 20% of MGM, whereas Fox has no controlling interest; however, Fox has since released DVD editions of films based on MGM IPs. In 2010, parent company

emerged from bankruptcy. As of 2011 until 2018, MGM no longer releases or markets its own movies. Instead, MGM shared distribution with other studios that handle all distribution and marketing for MGM's projects. Since then, only a handful of MGM's most recent movies, such as ''

Skyfall ''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the villai ...

'', ''

Red Dawn ''Red Dawn'' is a 1984 American action drama film directed by John Milius with a screenplay by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. The film depicts a fictional World War III centering on a land invasion of the continental United States by an alliance ...

'', ''

Carrie Carrie may refer to: People * Carrie (name), a female given name and occasionally a surname Places in the United States * Carrie, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Carrie, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carrie Glacier, Olympic Nati ...

'', '' RoboCop'', ''

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'', ''

Poltergeist In ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; German for "rumbling ghost" or "noisy spirit") is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descr ...

'' (which

Fox 2000 Pictures Fox 2000 Pictures was an American film production company within The Walt Disney Studios. It was a sister studio of the larger film studio 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures specializing in producing independent films in mid-range re ...

co-produced) and ''

Spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...

'' have all been released on

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

by its home video output and

. Others, such as '' The Hobbit trilogy'', '' Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters'', '' G.I. Joe: Retaliation'', ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'', ''

Hot Tub Time Machine 2 ''Hot Tub Time Machine 2'' is a 2015 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Steve Pink and written by Josh Heald. The film stars Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Adam Scott, Chevy Chase, and Gillian Jacobs. It is the sequel to ...

'', ''

Tomb Raider ''Tomb Raider'', also known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, ...

'', ''

Creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

'' and ''

Creed II ''Creed II'' is a 2018 American sports drama film directed by Steven Caple Jr. from a screenplay by Juel Taylor and Sylvester Stallone. The sequel to ''Creed'' (2015) and the eighth installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise, the film stars Michae ...

'', '' 21'' and '' 22 Jump Street'', '' Ben-Hur'', ''

Sherlock Gnomes ''Sherlock Gnomes'' is a 2018 3D computer-animated mystery comedy film directed by John Stevenson. Based on the character Sherlock Holmes created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the film serves as a sequel and spin-off to ''Gnomeo & Juliet'' (2011) ...

'' and ''

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay by William Roberts is a remake – in an Old West–style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself initially relea ...

'' have been released by the home video output of the co-distributor—in these cases, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (which MGM's catalog is currently handled by),

Paramount Home Entertainment Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global. The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...

and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment respectively. In 2011, MGM launched the "MGM Limited Edition Collection", a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD service that issues unreleased and out-of-print titles from the MGM-owned library. Its releases are sold through the

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

. On April 14, 2011, Fox's deal distributing the MGM library was extended through 2016.MGM Re-Ups DVD Deal With Fox Through 2016
, deadline.com On June 27, 2016, Fox's distribution deal with MGM was renewed until June 30, 2020.MGM & 20th Century Fox Renew Home Entertainment Deal
deadline.com

2019–present

With the acquisition of Fox's parent company 21st Century Fox by

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

on March 20, 2019, MGM announced in their 2019 report that it would not renew its deal with Fox after the current agreement expired on June 30, 2020, and would search for a new distributor afterwards. In the studio's 2020 financial report, MGM named Warner Bros. Home Entertainment as their new home media distributor. On May 26, 2021, it was officially announced that MGM will be acquired by

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

for $8.45 billion, subject to regulatory approvals and other routine closing conditions; with the studio continuing to operate as a label under the new parent company, but leaving the future of the physical home video releases of its title other than its current distribution deal with Studio Distribution Services in question. The merger was finalized on March 17, 2022.

Catalog and distribution deals

Currently in the United States and Canada, MGM's catalog is distributed by Studio Distribution Services, LLC., a joint venture between Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

that was first announced on January 14, 2020, later revealing the name on April 23, 2021, and marketed by Warner, with Warner also handling distribution internationally. Warner already owns and distributes MGM's pre-May 1986 library through their ownership of

, but the former began a distribution deal with the latter for its remaining catalog titles and select UAR releases when the latter left

– a prior distribution deal that began in 2006 – on June 30, 2020, and Universal already began distributing some of UAR's other releases beginning with ''

Operation Finale ''Operation Finale'' is a 2018 American historical drama film directed by Chris Weitz from a screenplay by Matthew Orton about a 1960 clandestine operation by Israeli commandos to capture former SS officer Adolf Eichmann, and transport him to ...

'' on December 4, 2018. MGM also licenses out some of its film and television library to

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

, and

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

. Many of Orion Pictures' films since its revival have been released through various third-party companies. The remake of ''

The Town That Dreaded Sundown ''The Town That Dreaded Sundown'' is a 1976 American thriller horror film directed and produced by Charles B. Pierce, and written by Earl E. Smith. The film is loosely based on the 1946 Texarkana Moonlight Murders, crimes attributed to an unide ...

'' was released by

. However, 20th Century, then Warner Bros., and currently SDS, LLC. would handle home video distribution of Orion's movies released through UAR.

Current distribution deals

* Studio Distribution Services, LLC. (2021–present; US and Canada only) **

(2018–present for MGM films released through United Artists Releasing) ** Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (1990–1999; 2020–present for the MGM library, including its post-April 1986 & the pre-UAR films; the studio's pre-May 1986 library remained with Warner Bros. through Turner Entertainment Co.)

Past distribution deals

* Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005–06) *

(2006–20)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mgm Home Entertainment Home video companies of the United States Home video distributors Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer subsidiaries Entertainment companies based in California Entertainment companies established in the 1970s 1970s establishments in California