Amazon to Take Full Creative Control of the James Bond Franchise

Somewhere, a sinister billionaire in a volcano lair is laughing maniacally.

Somewhere, a sinister billionaire in a volcano lair is laughing maniacally. Today it was announced that Amazon is taking full creative control of the James Bond media franchise from Eon Productions, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson.

The ownership of the 007 IP and distribution of the films has been in a somewhat volatile state for decades, with original distributor United Artists being taken over by Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer in 1981 and that studio in turn facing no end of financial setbacks which ultimately resulted in being bought out by Amazon in 2022, becoming Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon has essentially owned the rights to Bond franchise along with the rest of MGM’s vast back catalogue for a couple of years now, but through it all, Eon was always there to guide the ship. Until now.

James Bond has been seen as a producer’s franchise since its inception, with Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman deciding on the direction of the series and hiring versatile writers and directors to execute their vision in bringing Ian Fleming’s globe-hopping spy adventures to life. Cubby’s daughter Barbara Broccoli and step-son Michael G Wilson have been custodians of the franchise since the late 1980s and have taken a very active role in casting subsequent 007s and vetoing some of the creative choices of the directors they have worked with, resulting in many considered stylistically distinct auteurs steering well clear of the franchise to avoid clashes over creative differences. There has always been a Broccoli behind Bond’s cinematic life to date.

This might go some way to explaining why it has been so quiet on the subject of the 26th Bond film. Daniel Craig’s last outing as the suave secret agent, No Time to Die, was a critical and box office smash four years ago, and aside from rumoured front-runners from Tom Hardy to Regé-Jean Page and most recently Aaron Taylor-Johnson, nothing concrete has been released to expectant audiences in relation to confirmed casting or what sort of James Bond we can expect to see in the mid-2020s. After the grittiness and deconstruction of the Daniel Craig era, is it time to return to the wry escapism of Roger Moore? Are rich oligarchs with designs on world domination going to be the villains de rigueur again, or will that be too close to the bone for the men who own all media and most methods of communication, including, of course, those who now own James Bond?

Whatever an Amazon James Bond ends up looking like, you can rest assured that their venture will not be limited to one big screen blockbuster every three years or so, but spin-offs for supporting characters and as much varied content to put out on Amazon Prime and keep the brand in the public imagination as they can get away with, much like Disney’s more-is-more business model for Star Wars and Marvel.

Only time will tell what James Bond will become in a perpetually online, less media-savvy and more insular society, but we can hope one of the biggest and most iconic British film institutions retains its home and the jobs in the industry it provides at Pinewood Studios and that it doesn’t just become a glorified billboard for Amazon products. You have to give it to the Broccoli family: at least when they were using 007 to sell cars, watches, and champagne, they did it with some class.

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