MGM flicks arrive on Apple's iTunes Store

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) and Apple announced Wednesday that MGM is now offering titles from its catalog of feature films for purchase and download on the iTunes Store.



Beginning today, iTunes customers will be able to purchase flicks such as ?Dances With Wolves,? ?Mad Max,? ?The Great Train Robbery? and ?Rocky,? with other titles to be added in the coming weeks.



Of the major studios, MGM has the largest modern film library in the world and has received 208 Academy Awards in its history, making it one of the biggest award winning collections of films.



?It?s exciting to be bringing so many amazing films from our catalog to iTunes,? said Douglas A. Lee, MGM?s executive vice president of Worldwide Digital Media. ?We have an unrivaled movie library and are looking forward to adding even more films in the future so users can take their favorite movies with them wherever they go.?



Titles from MGM?s collection of blockbusters and classics that will be available on iTunes will include ?The Thomas Crown Affair,? ?Ronin,? and the acclaimed musical ?Lilies of the Field.? Movies downloaded from the iTunes Store are downloaded in near-DVD quality at a resolution of 640x480 (up to 480, depending on the aspect ratio) and can be viewed on a computer, fifth generation iPod or widescreen TV with Apple TV.



?More than two million movies have now been downloaded from the iTunes Store making it the world?s most popular online movie store,? said Eddy Cue, Apple?s vice president of iTunes. ?We?re absolutely thrilled so many legendary MGM films are joining an iTunes film catalog that now has over 500 movies.?



Apple's iTunes Store features the world?s largest catalog with over five million songs, 350 television shows and, with the addition of the MGM catalog, over 500 movies. The store has sold over 2.5 billion songs, 50 million TV shows and over two million movies, making it the world?s most popular online music, TV and movie store.
«1345

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 82
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    1) I though MGM was owned by Disney.



    2) I thought we'd have 720p DL by now.
  • Reply 2 of 82
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    1) I though MGM was owned by Disney.



    You are probably thinking of Miramax. MGM is partly owned by Sony. Disney-MGM appears to just be a theme park attraction.



    I found better info on their site:



    MGM is owned by an investor consortium comprised of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corporation of America, Comcast Corporation, DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group.



    http://www.mgm.com/corp_main.php
  • Reply 3 of 82
    MGM is a big catch. Well done!



    Hope downloads are coming to Japan soon... how I envy all you living in the States. 640X480 is plenty good for me; I usually watch movies in the corner of my monitor anyways while working...
  • Reply 4 of 82
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Momentum is building.
  • Reply 5 of 82
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    You are probably thinking of Miramax. MGM is partly owned by Sony. Disney-MGM appears to just be a theme park attraction.



    Yeah, I just wikied it.
  • Reply 6 of 82
    Let me know when HD, DRM-free movies are available.



    And no, I'm not holding my breathe for that. But I don't have any interest in iTunes movies until that happens.
  • Reply 7 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Yeah, I just wikied it.



    Cool, a new verb! Haven't seen this yet,but I like it. Kinda like "I googled it".
  • Reply 8 of 82
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    I found the press release linked from the front page, it looks like this story is mostly a copypasta:



    http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/04/11itunes.html
  • Reply 9 of 82
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Sony Pictures:

    - Columbia

    - Tri-Star



    News Corp:

    - 20th Century Fox



    Viacom:

    - DreamWorks

    - DreamWorks Animation



    Time Warner:

    - Warner Bros

    - New Line



    NBC:

    - Universal Studios



    Weinstein Company


    Quote:
    Originally Posted by blue2kdave View Post


    Cool, a new verb! Haven't seen this yet,but I like it. Kinda like "I googled it".



    Google gets 15,000 hits. I'd say that is relatively low considering the popularity of Wikipedia.
  • Reply 10 of 82
    FWIW, I've compiled virtually every significant milestone since the release of the original iTunes 1.0:



    http://www.systemshootouts.org/ipod_itunes_sales.html



    Also click the "iPod Sales" and "iTunes Sales" links at the top for line graphs of each.
  • Reply 11 of 82
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    [INDENT]Sony Pictures:

    - Columbia

    - Tri-Star




    That probably only counts total ownership. Sony does own 20% of MGM, according to Apple's press release.
  • Reply 12 of 82
    pmjoepmjoe Posts: 565member
    People are supposed to buy an Apple TV to watch barely SD programming? All this stuff is so 2-3 years ago. Much of this stuff is in the bargain bin for $7, better resolution, no DRM, doesn't waste disk space or require a computer to play back.
  • Reply 13 of 82
    lfe2211lfe2211 Posts: 507member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BlueDjinn View Post


    FWIW, I've compiled virtually every significant milestone since the release of the original iTunes 1.0:



    http://www.systemshootouts.org/ipod_itunes_sales.html



    Also click the "iPod Sales" and "iTunes Sales" links at the top for line graphs of each.



    Very Nice.
  • Reply 14 of 82
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pmjoe View Post


    People are supposed to buy an Apple TV to watch barely SD programming? All this stuff is so 2-3 years ago. Much of this stuff is in the bargain bin for $7, better resolution, no DRM, doesn't waste disk space or require a computer to play back.



    Thanks for pointing that out.
  • Reply 15 of 82
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pmjoe View Post


    People are supposed to buy an Apple TV to watch barely SD programming? All this stuff is so 2-3 years ago. Much of this stuff is in the bargain bin for $7, better resolution, no DRM, doesn't waste disk space or require a computer to play back.



    But it's perfect for the iPod Video, which, I'm guessing, is the most common way people currently watch their iTunes video content.



    720p will come. Don't you worry about that.
  • Reply 16 of 82
    lfe2211lfe2211 Posts: 507member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BlueDjinn View Post


    FWIW, I've compiled virtually every significant milestone since the release of the original iTunes 1.0:



    http://www.systemshootouts.org/ipod_itunes_sales.html



    Also click the "iPod Sales" and "iTunes Sales" links at the top for line graphs of each.



    I take my last comment back. Wow! What a great website you've made! Congrats!



    For everyone, this site is a great repository of Apple information. Take a look.
  • Reply 17 of 82
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BlueDjinn View Post


    FWIW, I've compiled virtually every significant milestone since the release of the original iTunes 1.0:



    http://www.systemshootouts.org/ipod_itunes_sales.html



    Also click the "iPod Sales" and "iTunes Sales" links at the top for line graphs of each.



    I will be referencing your site the next time I read "Macs are way more expensive than PCs"



    Excellent work.



    PS: Looking at the iPod chart, it took 5.5 years to get to 100M and yet it will probably take less than 18 months to get to a 100M more.
  • Reply 18 of 82
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    I'm holding out for high-def iTunes Movies in Europe before I buy one.
  • Reply 19 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post
    Sony Pictures:

    - Columbia

    - Tri-Star



    News Corp:

    - 20th Century Fox



    Viacom:

    - DreamWorks

    - DreamWorks Animation



    Time Warner:

    - Warner Bros

    - New Line



    NBC:

    - Universal Studios



    Weinstein Company



    All of them -- except Weinstein Co., which I don't think has produced any TV shows yet -- have TV shows in iTS. It's just a matter of time before all of the film distribution companies are on board.
  • Reply 20 of 82
    I'm waiting for a rental movie service (and better resolution). That would be the true Netflix.
Sign In or Register to comment.