James Bond within the palms of an American firm: shock horror! Amazon’s takeover of Britain’s iconic Bond franchise has Her Majesty’s topics fearful, with some questioning whether or not 007 nonetheless has a future.
After months of wrangling between the movies’ producers and Amazon MGM studio, extensively reported within the British press, the ultimate blow fell final Thursday: the American large will now preside over the future of the world’s best-known spy.
And it could do because it pleases — the Broccoli household, which has till now defended the franchise that exported the parable of MI6 glamour worldwide, has ceded artistic management to Amazon.
This transfer has shaken media within the spy’s homeland: the day after the deal was introduced, every day The Independent requested whether or not by taking management of the franchise, Amazon had “buried” it.
Meanwhile, articles in The Times and The Telegraph newspapers declared that James Bond will “never” be the identical.
Amazon’s actual intentions for the franchise stay unknown.
What is for certain, although, is that “Amazon want a return on their investment”, Chloe Preece, a professor of selling at London’s ESCP Business School advised AFP.
To make good on the deal, Amazon is more likely to create “spin-offs” or “prequels” in addition to capitalise off merchandising, Preece stated.
Jeff Bezos’s group acquired legendary studio MGM in 2022 for $8.45 billion, however the Broccoli household retained unique management of the James Bond model beneath it.
According to The Times, Amazon shelled out one other $1 billion to producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli to wrest artistic rights.
The monetary phrases of the deal haven’t been confirmed by Amazon.
Bond goes to develop into “more corporate. The volume (of films) will change”, estimated Tom Harrington, who works at Enders Analysis, which offers leisure trade insights.
Wilson and Broccoli, guarding the character who has formed British cinema because the Sixties, have resisted spin-offs and licensing that they felt might need tarnished the franchise.
Barbara Broccoli has labored with 4 completely different actors within the function of 007 — Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig — and described her tenure as “dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy” inherited from Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, her father.
“It has always been an exclusive, premium, old-fashion brand,” stated advertising and marketing skilled Adrian Mediavilla, with a median film launch time of “around five years”.
Amazon, then again, “want to build an ecosystem, a galaxy like Marvel or Super Mario,” in line with Mediavilla.
To do that, the studio may create new characters and new storylines. “There is enough content,” stated Preece.
And sufficient followers as properly. “There is a huge fandom,” stated Preece, including that followers had been “desperately” ready for the following movie.
The final installment was “No Time to Die” — the twenty fifth James Bond film and Craig’s swan track, which made $775 million within the field workplace.
There is a threat of over-exploiting and in flip weakening the franchise.
It shall be essential to “remain faithful to the brand’s heritage” and the character created seven a long time in the past by English creator Ian Fleming, burdened Mediavilla.
“The Broccolis have been careful, with a tight team of people who knew the brand. They chose the director, they cared for it,” stated Preece.
However, Amazon, like its rivals Netflix and Disney, works with an armada of scriptwriters who inevitably come and go.
For some, the hazard lies elsewhere. British tabloids fear that James Bond is changing into “woke”.
“When you have a look at the evolution of the brand one might say it has gone woke,” stated Preece, for whom the Bond character performed by Daniel Craig has nearly nothing in frequent with the one performed by Sean Connery or Roger Moore.
“They have evolved with the time,” added Preece.
The scriptwriters have toned down Bond’s caddish facet and common misogynist jabs at girls, and within the newest movies have tried to current a picture of a person who’s extra delicate.
According to Preece, Amazon might even discover making a “Bond girl series”.
But the massive losers might be film theaters. All the movies within the saga are large blockbusters, however Amazon may now dispense with a cinema launch and supply the movie straight on its Prime streaming platform.
© 2025 AFP