Warner Bros. invests in Gary Barber’s Spyglass Media

Burbank movie studio Warner Bros. Pictures has made an investment in Spyglass Media Group, the Century City production company run by former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios chief Gary Barber.

The companies announced the deal Tuesday, but did not disclose financial terms.

As part of the agreement, Warner Bros. will have first right of refusal for movies produced by Spyglass Media.

Barber, who previously ran MGM from 2010 until his ouster last year, serves as chairman and chief executive of the new Spyglass Media.

In March, the South Africa-born veteran executive teamed up with Lantern Entertainment — the Dallas private equity firm that bought the assets of the defunct Weinstein Co. last year — to create Spyglass Media.

Barber has had a long relationship with Warner Bros., which is owned by Dallas phone giant AT&T Inc. During Barber’s tenure at MGM after its emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the storied studio produced the “Hobbit” trilogy and the acclaimed “Rocky” follow-up “Creed” with Warner Bros.

Spyglass Media oversees a library of 250 films formerly controlled by Weinstein Co., including “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Django Unchained.”

Aside from Lantern and Warner Bros., Spyglass Media’s backers include Italian distributor Eagle Pictures and British cinema giant Cineworld Group, which owns Regal Entertainment.

Spyglass Media takes its name from Spyglass Entertainment, the company Barber co-founded in 1998. Spyglass Entertainment exists as a separate company.