What the James Bond shakeup at Amazon means for the franchise’s future

Bond. James Bond.

They’re words familiar to moviegoers around the world, but the James Bond franchise may be reintroducing itself in an entirely new way in the future.

On Thursday, Amazon MGM Studios, Michael G. Wilson, and Barbara Broccoli announced a new joint venture to house the intellectual property rights of James Bond, ceding creative control of the franchise to Amazon MGM after over 60 years under the watchful eye of the Broccoli family.

Wilson and Broccoli will remain co-owners of the Bond series but step back from creative management. The franchise first launched in 1962, shepherded by Albert “Cubby” Broccoli of Eon Productions, the British production company that had overseen all Bond films until today’s announcement.

“Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future,” Wilson said in a statement.

It’s a change with implications as powerful as a new bit of tech from Q. Unlike Marvel or Star Wars, or even the Muppets, which have spent a decade or more under the umbrella of a Hollywood studio’s control, the Bond films have remained an outlier with the Broccoli family’s resolute stewardship. Though they have maintained a lengthy distribution and producing relationship with MGM, they always closely guarded their intellectual property.

Under their guidance, 25 Bond films have been produced to date. All adhere to some general rules, including that Bond must be played by an actor of British or Commonwealth heritage. Other hallmarks include the evolving tradition of the Bond girl, largely bloodless violence, and more.

Some of this will undoubtedly remain the same (can you imagine a James Bond film without the signature gun barrel title sequence?). But in the name of fostering their legacy, the Broccoli family has kept a tight leash on the Bond films, one that will be slackened substantially when this transaction is complete.

Until now, Bond has only been permitted to exist in feature films. But with Amazon MGM taking the reins, it’s likely Bond will go the way of other franchises in this age. With Prime Video available as a platform, there’s a universe in which we’ll get a James Bond TV show on streaming. And while the films have traditionally built upon their own mythology, occasionally resetting with new actors, there’s now nothing to prevent Amazon MGM studios from greenlighting prequels and spinoffs previously off the table.

This is both exciting and concerning — while the notion of a sitcom about Q’s lab hijinks or a prequel centered on Moneypenny’s origins has potential, it could also end up diluting the brand (as has been the case with the glut of Star Wars and Marvel titles that has led Disney to scale back their output for both franchises significantly). There’s also the possibility that James Bond films will cease to be a cinematic event. If the world of Bond extends beyond a feature film every few years, it expands the world and oversaturates the market.

Though the Bond films have worked hard to evolve for modern times, some point to its traditionalism as an obstacle. Perhaps this change in creative control could clear the way for various Bonds of different ethnicities, gender identities, sexualities, etc. It’s an update to the franchise that audiences have long been asking for — and there’s more space for it than ever. (Though we’d like to make the plea that Bond remain solely in the hands of British/Commonwealth thespians). Personally, I’d love to see them dip into Bond’s roots and produce some period pieces, returning the character to creator/novelist Ian Fleming’s inspirations in World War II or Bond’s beginnings in the swingin’ ‘60s.

Additionally, while the Daniel Craig films introduced a new degree of grit and engagement with the real world, they also had a clear mission to make Bond a serious movie endeavor rather than a franchise that’s just fun to watch. Without his keepers striving to define and preserve his legacy above all else, there’s space for both a prestige Bond and a playful Bond.

All of this being said, one does wonder about the intentions of Bond’s new creative architects. Amazon, and all of its attendant properties, is owned by Jeff Bezos, who has proven in recent months to have no issue kowtowing to authoritarians for the sake of his bottom line. That’s not very Bond-like – in fact, it’s behavior in the realm of a Bond villain (he even bears a striking resemblance to Ernst Blofeld as portrayed by Donald Pleasence and Telly Savalas). It’s possible Bezos will have little involvement, but he did post on social media only hours after the announcement asking who people think should be the next Bond.

Instead of using this opportunity to make Bond a more inclusive franchise, Bezos could very well lean into the franchise’s outmoded machismo, returning Bond to an aggressive womanizer and pillar of a brand of masculinity that aligns with the values of the far right.

Bond may have been mired in traditionalism, but Broccoli and Wilson also strove to ensure he reflected our times back to us — via the crises, anxieties, and criminal masterminds he faced. His impeccably tailored suits, predilection for shaken martinis, and cool head have stood as tried-and-true comforts in an evermore complicated and chaotic world. Sure, the franchise could do with some fresh thinking — but what happens when you hand James Bond over to a man who has more in common with the likes of Le Chiffre and Goldfinger?

In the best case, this handoff of creative control will expand the world and possibilities of what can be defined as a James Bond property. But the worst-case scenario? That would be Bond becoming a tool of the villains he’s spent his fictional life defeating. In that case, Mr. Bond, we expect you to die.