Imagine Moves First-Look Deal From Apple to Amazon

Amazon Studios has struck a first-look deal with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment.

The multiyear pact will give the streamer a look at narrative features and documentaries that Imagine intends to produce after earlier projects they collaborated on, including Lucy and Desi, Thirteen Lives and Judy Blume Forever, which Prime Video will release on April 21.

Imagine, which had an earlier first-look deal with Apple, also has the spy action-comedy The U.S.P.S. in development at Amazon Studios.  

“Whether it’s a captivating drama like Thirteen Lives or a poignant documentary like Lucy and Desi, the team at Imagine Entertainment has an incredible gift for storytelling,” Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon and MGM Studios, said in a statement.

Grazer and Howard’s Imagine has long been one of the biggest names in Hollywood, holding one of the richest deals in town at Universal for decades before segueing to tie-ups with streamers.

“Brian, Ron and I, along with our entire team at Imagine including Karen Lunder, president of Imagine Features, and Sara Bernstein, president of Imagine Documentaries, couldn’t be more excited to have a home at Amazon and continue our shared desire to make tentpole films that inspire, elevate and entertain audiences,” Justin Wilkes, president of Imagine Entertainment, said in a statement.

As for Amazon, Imagine inks a deal with the tech company after it acquired the film and TV studio MGM, with its enormous library of content, as part of a $8.5 billion deal and recently signaled a major move into the theatrical movie space.

MGM is home of big-screen franchises, including the James Bond series, which is part of the studio’s 4,000 film title library. Amazon plans to release 12 to 15 movies in theaters annually, with the push into the local multiplex getting underway this year.