James Bond’s Future Is in Amazon’s Hands—And That’s a Problem

A new Bond villain has entered the 007 universe: Amazon. 

Last week the company sealed the deal with Bond creative rights holders, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, giving Amazon control of the film franchise. 

The Broccoli family ran the James Bond franchise for over 50 years dating back to Barbara’s father, Albert R. Broccoli. The family treated the franchise with care and always made sure fans were given their money's worth at the theater. 

Fear from fans regarding the once delivery service turned studio now taking over a beloved film franchise isn’t to be ignored.  

After spending almost $300 million creating the British spy drama Citadel, Amazon took a chance to create their Walmart version of James Bond. Receiving mixed reviews, Citadel did not pan out to be the hit series. 

Just as always greed takes over creative control, Amazon continued to throw action dramas at the wall to see what stuck, coming out with Reacher and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. 

Amazon is no stranger to whipping out the checkbook to get more IP (Intellectual Property). Spending $250 million for the rights of the Lord of the Rings franchise to create the series Rings of Power. Similar to Marvel, Thano’s journey of retrieving every ring to gain power is what Amazon wants to do with Hollywood blockbusters. It’s all short-term thinking. 

One of the worries from fans is whether the next James Bond film will go straight to streaming. 

Sadly, it won’t be a surprise if audiences watch James Bond from home similar to how they did Roadhouse. The streamer didn’t budge to allow Patrick Swayze’s remake to live on in the theaters again. 

James Bond straight to streaming will probably not happen but the possibility goes to show where Amazon’s thinking is at - unoriginal and money-driven. Buying MGM for $8.5 billion and tying the bow with this new acquisition, Amazon struggles to find a new direction for James Bond. 

One bright idea to ignore would be making a spinoff series around 007 characters similar to Marvel and Star Wars. Eric Handler, senior media and entertainment analyst at Roth Capital Partners told Variety how, “Now, Amazon can maybe stay on a linear track with the films, but maybe they create a streaming series about Moneypenny or tell an origin story about Q.”  Spinoff series rarely work because everything should have stopped after Endgame and The Last Jedi. 

According to an article from the Wall Street Journal, Broccoli became angry when Amazon executives continually referred to James Bond as “content.” Looking at the character from that perspective can be understood there are no true fans of the film franchise and just know 007 from watching one Daniel Craig installment to get the gist. 

The last 007 film in the franchise was 2021’s No Time To Die, Daniel Craig’s last time in a tuxedo. On top of finding a new direction for the franchise, Amazon now has to determine who will be the next James Bond before spewing out a streaming series. 

The weight of these decisions matters to the fans because the 007 films serve as the benchmark for what cinema is. James Hibberd from The Hollywood Reporter mentioned how, “Amazon isn’t a company that seems to value cinema, and doesn’t have longtime experience creating cinema, the way a company making the next Bond movie ideally should.” Actors check off their wishlist of appearing in a Bond film or are allowed to play a villain. Music artists having a song in the opening credits of the film may matter more than a Grammy (for some). 

It will be interesting to see how Amazon assigns Bond’s next mission because the studio can not afford to Die Another Day.