With the news earlier this week that Amazon was buying MGM, there’s been a lot of speculation of how it might affect future films featuring James Bond. Could No Time to Die forego a theatrical run to instead become a Prime exclusive? If not that, could the post-Daniel Craig Bond films end up on the small screen only? And might we see a plethora of Bond spin-offs pop up on streaming in the coming years — the 007 Cinematic Universe of our dreams (or nightmares)?
Given the money Amazon is spending on high-profile adaptations of The Wheel of Time and J.R.R. Tolkien’s bibliography, it’s not shocking to think that they might have similar designs on all things Bond-related. Jeff Bezos alluding to the “intellectual property” elements of the MGM deal makes that pretty clear.
But it’s worth mentioning here that MGM doesn’t control Bond’s cinematic future unilaterally. A new Wall Street Journal article by Erich Schwartzel and Joe Flint explores the influence of stepsiblings Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who hold the rights to produce Bond films and who have made plenty of high-profile creative decisions when it comes to stars and directors.
The process of making James Bond films over the years has included plenty of roads not taken and stories not pursued. Schwartzel and Flint describe Wilson and Broccoli as “critical to MGM’s value,” and note that Amazon executives kept them in the loop before the sale was announced.
So far, Broccoli and Wilson have avoided spin-offs, and have committed to keeping Bond films screened theatrically. Will that resolve last? As the Wall Street Journal notes, both have seen studio leadership come and go over the years. If you’ve been holding out hope for the 007 version of The Mandalorian, you might be waiting a lot longer.
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