It’s the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. Honestly, I never thought I’d see the day Barbara and Michael gave up control, but here we are. I for one salute them and thank them for their service.
So what now?
Impossible to say. As has been noted, it all comes down to the people Amazon pick. Who will be the new producers in charge? Who will they hire to write and direct? How will the show be run from now on? Because we are in uncharted territory for Amazon here. I looked at a list of Amazon original movies, and I’ve heard very few of them.
But taking the reigns of an existing franchise isn’t something they’ve done before.
But at the end of the day this is news and it is huge. Maybe now the wheels can start turning on a new Bond adventure, and maybe it will be good. All we can do is hope.
“You can really reimagine this series,” says Eric Handler, senior media and entertainment analyst at Roth Capital Partners. “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. Do they have Ana de Armas’s character from ‘No Time to Die’ appear in a separate movie? It’s all possible.”
The article devotes significant space to a quote from a financial analyst, not a cinema creative.
The world they are operating in is like nothing they have experienced before (as it is for many people nowadays). Rules and ethics are suddenly very different.
I wake up at 4.30am to see this thread bursting with new replies, to discover seemingly out of nowhere the biggest development in Bond history. This is a lot to take in, and I’ve only just found out. Anything is on the table now, and the guardrails are indeed off. From waiting around with nothing on the horizon to probably content galore. We’ll see if this the thing needed right now or a curse. I admit to being scared about casting decisions and the chance the brand could be cheapened. But that’s out of our control. One era has ended and another has begun.
This is an absolute shocker. I did not expect this. But looking at the series on-screen and off since Skyfall–and particularly SPECTRE–Eon has definitely been struggling to keep their up interest (and quality) in James Bond revealed in the fact of longer gaps between films, catering to Daniel Craig and trying to convince him to stay instead of moving on to a new actor who would be more excited about the series and propelling the series forward. They even went so far as to do the unthinkable and killed off 007. Eon’s creative juices definitely seem to be spent.
Having said that, I don’t know what to think of Eon’s ceding creative control to Amazon. On the one hand, new blood and new ideas should be great for the series. But some of what we have heard about the powers that be behind the scenes in their brief partnership with Eon, not to mention what Amazon has done to The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power prequels which tramples on J.R.R. Tolkien’s legacy, makes me VERY nervous. Although, having said that, both Reacher and Bosch are very well done TV series. So I have no idea which way it will go nor how I should feel about it.
The biggest positive of this news is that it would seem to fast track James Bond back to the big screen. Also of note is that it may be good news for us Henry Cavill fans as this probably gives him his best shot to be the next 007. EON had previously said they wanted an actor in his 30s which would put Cavill out of the running. But with Amazon in control, he could conceivably be back in the picture. Amazon is likely to start the next film in a couple of years. Cavill will be 44/45. That is getting up there, but it would not the oldest debut (Roger Moore 46). Also, Amazon would likely resort to making films every two to three years. He still looks young and is one of, if not THE, favorite among the general public to be Bond so even on a three-year cycle he could do four films by the time he’s 54. Is he likely to get the gig? Odds are probably no, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Cavill remains my top pick and his selection would give me hope for Bond’s–and Amazon’s 007–future.
With ‘the family’ gone the sense of authenticity with what comes next can’t help but be impacted. Even if Barbara and co made bad decisions they were official decisions. NTTD takes on even more meaning now, with Craig being the last Bond before it all changed. I may be surprised and the theatrical experience is still favoured, with certain other aspects still adhered to. The spin-off stuff does concern me, but it really does depend on what type of content we’re talking about. Truth be told, the brand does need to get out there more. But not to the point it loses its lustre like Star Wars. I have mixed feelings right now.
What’s surprising is that this comes after Barbara called Amazon ‘f***ing idiots’. What happened after she made that comment? They really must have had enough and perhaps had no intention of starting the series again. If that is the case, the Amazon era keeps the brand alive, even if it’s in this format. I expect movement on a new movie very soon now…I just hope it’s a direction I like.
Anyway, off to work. This will be on my mind all day.
The last part is what bothers me. Will it be cheapened? We wanted films on a regular basis, yes. But we thought the family would and should do that. Bond films are events when they open. Will they be events going forward? Or just more “content”?
I remember watching Moore-Bond with my dad as a kid. It was special. These movies were bigger, and time was more important than other times. My family would do an annual Xmas Bond marathon. Why at Xmas? I don’t know, it just seemed like the thing to do.
Will the Amazon-led films have the same effect? If I were Bezos I would study and learn about that history, and then choose a show-runner.
Nothing. She launched her best shot, and Amazon brushed it off. They wanted product, and the more they could make it look like Barbara Broccoli was being unreasonable, delaying, and standing in the way of Bond 26, the stronger their position.
Is February 20, 2025 the day that Bond jumped the shark?
Okay, I’ve now had roughly six hours to come to terms with this. Result: I still hate this, and we’re all going to curse this day. When Bezos has lost interest in his new one-billion-dollar-toy or it doesn’t bring the expected profit, he’s going to sell the leftovers to MouseHouse, who’re going to press the last drops of milk out it.
Spent last weekend dusting off my Bond collection and started thinking of ways to solve the problem that I’m running out of shelf space. Canceled those plans for now.
I surely hope it’s not just content. If Amazon is smart (?) they’ll strike a balance between producing films on a regular schedule and respect for the longest running franchise in history that got that way for a reason.
One thing this transfer of power does, perhaps, is open up the possibility of Amazon filming the continuation novels. That would be interesting and exciting.
It’s amazing, and more than a bit sad today to look back at 2006/08, and CR/QoS and to think how good we had it.
A two year gap between films, video games (Craig voicing Bond in four between '08 and '12). A seemingly invigorated Eon and a young Bond that just completed his first mission. It seemed like we were in for many adventures with Craig’s Bond and seeing him turn from rookie to seasoned agent…
Then for a number of reasons, that trajectory halted, we no longer had the “rookie Bond” angle, the gaps between the films grew, each time with the future of the series being questioned.
It’s hard for me not to think the promise and potential that the early years of Craig’s tenure offered was never fulfilled. I never would have guessed this would have been the conclusion we were ultimately heading towards.
“My respect, admiration and love for Barbara and Michael remain constant and undiminished. I wish Michael a long, relaxing (and well deserved) retirement and whatever ventures Barbara goes on to do, I know they will be spectacular and I hope I can be part of them.”
