MGM Unveils Slate for Licensing Show

NEW YORK, May 30: MGM
Consumer Products will present a roster of new film and television properties
at next month’s Licensing Show, including the introduction of the American
Gladiators franchise, as well as
new offerings of established brands like Stargate, Pink Panther and Legally Blonde.

MGM Consumer Products will
feature new incarnations of the Pink Panther franchise in advance of the February 2009
theatrical release of The Pink Panther 2, which will star Steve
Martin, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, John Cleese, Andy Garcia, Alfred Molina,
Aishwarya Rai and Molly Simms. MGM is
reinvigorating the brand with a dedicated movie style guide, OMNIPINK, which utilizes the film’s international location
as inspiration.

The studio will also
unveil a new girl-skewing movie style guide for the Legally Blonde franchise in the run up to the upcoming U.S.
cross-city tour of Legally Blonde: The Musical, and the spring 2009 direct-to-video release of Legally
Blondes, the third installment of
the movie series starring Rebecca and Camilla Rosso. Earlier this year, MTV
partnered with MGM to air the original series Legally Blonde: The Search for
the New Elle Woods, which
chronicled the search for a new star to headline the production.

In addition, MGM Consumer
Products introduces the refreshed American Gladiators reality-competition franchise, which drew record
ratings for NBC and is already in its second season on the network. MGM has
developed a comprehensive style guide for the property, which features two
distinctly different areas of licensing opportunities to reach fans of all
ages: Classic Gladiators, which
draws inspiration from the original TV series currently airing on ESPN, and New
American Gladiators, based on the
stars and champions of the current series. A number of licensing agreements
have been reached for the property, including with Global Interactive (pending);
Inkworks (trading cards); Itoys (handheld games); Rubie’s (costumes); Briefly
Stated (loungewear, pajamas and underwear); Jem (tees and fleeces), Trinity
(classic tees); and Jakks Pacific as the master toy licensee.

New offerings for Stargate, the longest-running sci-fi series in television
history, will be highlighted as well. This year, Stargate Ark of Truth launched as an original DVD movie, hitting number
one on Amazon.com, with the second original DVD movie, entitled Stargate:
Continuum, slated to launch July
29. A third television series, Stargate Universe, is currently in development. Meanwhile, Stargate
Worlds, the studio’s upcoming
online subscription game, will debut in September 2008. Stargate SG-1 and its spin-off, Stargate Atlantis, are broadcast in more than 100 countries.

MGM also hopes to continue
to mine the studio’s film library to develop additional opportunities for
classic titles such as Some Like It Hot, starring Marilyn Monroe, and Fame, as well as
genre-themed library fare such as Soul Cinema and Midnite Movies. A 50th anniversary collector DVD for Some Like
It Hot will launch at the end of
the year. Some Like It Hot
licenses are available in a variety of categories, including fragrance, skin
care, apparel, footwear and jewelry, among others. There is a new theatrical
property based on Fame that is
in development for release in 2009.

“With new installments of
our famed franchises and exciting twists on some of our most popular classics,
we are pleased to welcome licensees to the MGM booth this year,” said Travis
Rutherford, the executive VP of MGM Consumer Products and location based
entertainment. “This year, we have a particularly well-rounded portfolio of
offerings with plenty of appeal for the entire product spectrum, backed by one
of the world’s most-loved and recognized entertainment brands.”

—By Irene Lew