Amazon tycoon wants an Oscar

Jeff Bezos has declared his intention to move from small parcels to the big screen. Photo / Peter Foley

It's enough to make the most hardened Hollywood executive tremble in his boots.

Not content with dominating the online-selling world, the founder of Amazon has revealed his latest ambition - to win an Oscar.

Jeff Bezos declared his intention to move from small parcels to the big screen yesterday - throwing down the gauntlet to Netflix, Amazon's biggest rival.

Netflix is on course to win an Oscar for its African war drama Beasts of No Nation, which stars Luther actor Idris Elba.

Amazon has already won five Emmy awards this year for its comedy TV series Transparent, but for Bezos, who is so ambitious he has even launched his own spaceflight company, that is not enough.

Speaking to German newspaper Die Welt, he said that Amazon will also aim to produce 16 feature films a year, adding: "We want to win an Oscar."

He said that the movies will be shown in cinemas but they will be available on Amazon's online streaming service, Amazon Prime, much more quickly, instead of a months-long wait for a DVD or online release.

But whether Bezos's movie dreams will turn out to be a blockbuster success or a straight-to- video flop remains to be seen.

Last year the company got no Emmy nominations compared to 31 for Netflix. But this year it was a different story - as Amazon was nominated for 12 awards and won five, while Netflix was nominated for 34 but won just four.

Amazon now aims to do to the movie business what it did to the book industry - dominate it. It is the sixth most popular website in the world, with tens of millions of customers.

Entrepreneur Bezos is seen as the driving force behind the stunning growth of the company, which he founded in 1994 and nearly named Relentless.

It began by selling books, and later its Kindle e-reader. However, in the last few years it has rapidly expanded and now has annual revenues of £59billion.

Bezos's aspirations appear to go far beyond Amazon. With his spaceflight company Blue Origin, he has said that he believes mankind is on the verge of another "golden age" of space exploration. He has also invested in property and bought newspaper The Washington Post, which has become more web-savvy since his takeover.

The businessman is also considering buying the rights for the Premier League, though it cost Sky £5.1billion for the most recent three-year contract.

The scheme is the latest example of how Amazon is experimenting with new ways of doing business.

The firm has already announced that it will use drones to deliver packages instead of postmen.

The devices would use satellite navigation tracking to find their way to and from an address.

Bezos said yesterday that the programme will be called Prime Air, and that the 'technology is already developed'. Amazon just has to get permission from the aviation authorities for it to go ahead.

- Daily Mail