San Francisco, May 18 (IANS): Amazon is reportedly in talks to acquire movie giant MGM for $9 billion, at a time when the world's largest telecommunication company AT&T has announced to merge WarnerMedia with Discovery to create a new media giant that will compete with leading streaming players like Netflix.

While The Information reported Amazon is in discussions to acquire MGM Holdings between $7 billion to $10 billion, Variety said in its report on Monday that $9 billion is the amount MGM was hoping to zero in.

MGM owns a major film library, with interests in the long running James Bond franchise as well as other well-known titles such as Rocky and Pink Panther.

"It also owns the Epix cable channel and makes TV shows, including The Handmaid's Tale and Fargo and reality shows such as Shark Tank and Survivor," the report mentioned.

The Guardian earlier reported that MGM has a library of 4,000 films and 17,000 hours of TV.

MGM has been up for sale since December 2020.

The news came as AT&T and Discovery on Monday announced a definitive agreement to combine WarnerMedias premium entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery's leading non-fiction and international entertainment and sports businesses to create a premier, standalone global entertainment company.

Under the terms of the agreement, AT&T would receive $43 billion (subject to adjustment) in a combination of cash, debt securities, and WarnerMedia's retention of certain debt.