MGM, the Hollywood studio behind the James Bond and Rocky franchises, is up for sale with a price-tag of more than $5bn (£3.75bn).
Owners have included drinks magnate Edgar Bronfman, the Las Vegas casino billionaire Kirk Kerkorian and CNN’s founder Ted Turner.
And with a loyal, global fanbase the films can be relied on to bring in about $1bn at the global box office.
MGM owns a library of 4,000 film titles and 17,000 hours of TV programming, from Gone with the Wind and The Hobbit to TV hits such as The Handmaid’s Tale.