Epix is changing its name.
The MGM-backed premium cable network and its streaming service Epix are being rebranded as MGM+. The change, which will become effective on January 15th when season 3 of the Godfather of Harlem releases. The name change is a reflection of its parent company MGM after the studio acquired full ownership of Epix from previous owners Viacom and Lionsgate in 2017 in a deal valued at $1 billion.
“MGM is one of the most iconic and beloved brands from the golden age of entertainment,” said Michael Wright, head of MGM+. “This rebrand is a promise to existing and new viewers that MGM+ is the place to find television that reflects and celebrates the legacy of the iconic MGM brand — cinematic programming with sophisticated storytelling that entertains, delights, surprises and transports. MGM is television for movie lovers.”
MGM+ will also see Billy the Kid from Vikings creator Michael Hirst, sci-fi horror thriller From and dramas Rogue Heroes and Belgravia.
Hotel Cocaine, from Narcos and Godfather of Harlem’s Chris Brancato, will join the roster of scripted originals at Epix. The eight-episode Miami-set crime thriller that is set in the late 1970s and early ’80s and produced in-house at Epix Studios and MGM Television will premiere in 2023.
Additionally, a second season of period drama Belgravia from The Gilded Age and Downton Abbey’s Julian Fellowes. Belgravia: The Next Chapter is coming and will pick up in 1865, 25 years after the 2020 limited series wrapped its run. The second season follows the love story of Frederick Trenchard and his new love interest, Clara Dunn.
Rounding out Epix’s slate is a roster of newly ordered unscripted series, including a four-part Amityville murders doc and a two-part exploration of the San Francisco music community from 1965 to 1975 from Frank Marshall, Alex Gibney and Amblin Television.
