The way forward for 007 and the James Bond franchise as a complete has been a degree of competition for years now, particularly after the MGM library was absorbed by Amazon. After months of back-and-forth concerning the enlargement plans for the IP, longtime Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are “stepping again from the artistic course of.”
The information dropped by way of Deadline, with each the producers and Amazon MGM Studios and Prime Video’s Mike Hopkins confirming the brand new association. “Amazon and the producers have shaped a brand new enterprise to deal with the James Bond mental property rights”, he mentioned, with Wilson and Broccoli remaining on board as co-owners of the franchise.
After all, that amy properly show to be elaborate corpo speak for ‘We have trampled over the producers that had been blocking the franchise from turning into one other interchangeable property we are able to mine to dying’. In late 2024, it was reported that Broccoli even went so far as to name Amazon’s execs “f**king idiots,” which suggests tough conversations regarding the way forward for not solely the subsequent James Bond, but in addition potential spinoffs films and/or exhibits had been taking place for some time.
“Insiders add that no selections have been made on the long run Bond movies together with who will star, direct or write the subsequent movie,” Deadline wrote. After all, getting a brand new Bond film off the bottom (one thing that Broccoli and Wilson had been fascinated by doing within the close to future) ought to be the precedence, as No Time To Die, Daniel Craig’s remaining outing as the enduring British spy, was launched in late 2021 and can flip 4 this 12 months. Even when a writing and directing workforce was locked this 12 months, Amazon can be a 2027 launch on the earliest.
“With the conclusion of No Time to Die and Michael retiring from the movies, I really feel it’s time to deal with my different tasks,” mentioned Broccoli on the finish of her feedback. For those who can learn between the strains, she sounds properly conscious {that a} main plundering will now start. There have been rumblings previously of Amazon being fascinated by spinoffs primarily based on different characters from the ‘Bond mythos’ (since all the things should be thought-about a universe now) and even prequel exhibits. Broccoli and Wilson, alternatively, all the time pushed for Bond to stay a theatrical ‘occasion’ film sequence.
Whereas pleasure surrounding a brand new James Bond and the respective rebooted film saga stays excessive it doesn’t matter what, followers will understandably be extra cautious transferring ahead as Amazon appears to be like for brand spanking new methods to mine the sequence for fast income, and the preliminary reactions on-line to this main Hollywood improvement are something however constructive.
