Theoretically it’s possible they reinvent the entire series. I say ‘theoretically’ because I don’t think that’s going to be a likely outcome. But nothing would hold them back from delivering something entirely disconnected from the previous entries.
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Very true Arb. And I fear that the (almost necessary) blank slate will provide us with an “origin” story, which seems to have become the crutch for franchises everywhere (what are we going to be onto soon, Superman’s fourth?).
Especially in (the unlikely event) Amazon turn over creative last word to a name director (here’s looking at you Nolan), the lazy allure of re-writing the start will prove too much.
For us fans, I’d offer it would be easier just to pick it up and create a new adventure, Force Awakens style (yes I know that was a retread and kind of a start), but IMHO the origin story has become a fallback for creatives who lack originality…
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Definitely agree - but I’m undecided whether that may not actually be a pet fad with studio executives who still hope, against all evidence to the contrary, to break out with a hugely more interesting, innovative and lucrative outing than the original. But did that ever happen, Nolan’s Batman aside?
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I strangely see Ralph Fiennes coming back as Sir Miles as M. Also, behind the scenes. Knowing my luck, Purvis and Wade are coming back.
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I’m actually becoming excited for what the new ownership will bring to Bond, I just hope that they do it with respect to what went before. Hopefully we don’t get a new origin story (for me CR is the best and all we need), would be good to see some of the unused elements from the Fleming novels used. When I was younger I had read more of the books vs watching of the films and always thought Live and Let Die could do with a remake using all of the action sequences that were later used like the keel hauling in FYEO and the warehouse fight from LTK, I want to see a screen Bond get so desperate he uses his Rolex as a knuckle-duster.
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Well, there’s no reason to say they wont approach Fiennes, Harris or Whishaw, but now you mention it…
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Social Media now has lots of posts maintaining that Cavill was chosen.
Not true. Yet.
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So going forward, what happens with Never Say Never Again?
There’s nothing really stopping Amazon from slotting it right in there next to Octopussy as an official film now, is there?
Do we need to start thinking of the next film as Bond 27?
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Or BOND A1.
Theoretically, they could slap it onto the series like a cheap decal - but I doubt it somehow. If anything the pressure would be on to get the most attention on BOND 26, so it’s best they avoid any stink about the previous films. For now at least.
Once they released BOND 26 and perhaps the next one they could do whatever they want. One might even imagine them editing NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN to fit in with the rest, gun barrel and the like.
In the end it would only be a minor storm in a teacup, something hardcore fans might get wound up over - but passing by most of the public outside our bubble.
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Does that mean Casino Royale 1967 would get included too? Or is that so obviously a spoof that they will leave it alone?
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Ahem CR ‘67 is pre-prequel
How can CR '67 be a pre-prequel with an old Bond, who is retired at the beginning of the film?
No disrespect towards CR67 on my watch. 
NuBond will probably have more in common with CR67 than with the rest of the series.
Probably a great soundtrack, better than many others in the franchise, more star power than any other Bond movie, probably “Old Bond”, a huge OTT marketing campaign, a bunch of idiot execs that’ll drive away one director after another, which will result in a complete mess of a story and a movie – and when they finally get to the insight that they just can’t make a proper Bond movie, they turn it into something completely different, but not a comedy spoof like CR67, but a musical. And last but not least many long time Bond fans who’ll outright hate it.
That said, I think I just found a reason (and a little glimpse of hope) to actually look forward to this. 
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I wonder what mandates the oligarch will have for Bond 26.
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That is an interesting question. I can see them including Never Say Never Again with the rest of the series, but it is probably just as likely that they will leave it as it is now–it exists but is not official. However, I cannot see them including Casino Royale 1967 with the EON series at all. It’s just too out there, and other than the music and the girls, there’s nothing to enjoy. It is an absolute mess.
As for me, I kind of hope Amazon includes NSNA as loosely part of the James Bond series. It has three things going for it: 1) it is legally made–Kevin McClory had a right to make it, 2) it is reasonably faithful to the source material Thunderball, and 3) it stars Sean Connery. There’s also a fourth thing going for it–it is also a decent film. Not a great one, but an enjoyable one–just like some of the lesser films in the series. As a result, I’ve always included NSNA in my Bond lists. CR67 just has the first criteria and, like the world, that’s just not enough. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
So NSNA in. CR67 out.
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I have it both ways with NSNA. I don’t count it as official but still consider it the endpoint for Connery’s Bond. The weirdness will be an outside company (Amazon) making Bond movies but with the official trappings such as the gunbarrel and James Bond Theme - things NSNA could not use. There’s no doubt a mental adjustment to be had with the film series now but life goes on. Bond survived after Fleming and he will survive after Broccoli.
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I don’t think Amazon will put in the effort to change NSNA with any additions nor any mentions of it belonging to the other films. NSNA is just one more film they make available - or will drop from their offerings, just like so many other films suddenly are dropped from streamers, due to either vanishing rights or disinterest from customers.
I wonder whether the average moviegoer still is interested in NSNA or has already forgotten about it. The price for it on Amazon is set high, which means nobody will go for it unless you are a fan and want to own it.
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It’s probably one of the more obscure Connery films that exists primarily because of the strange machinations that went on before the film series even began. That backstory is, at least in my opinion, a lot more interesting than the film’s plot - but is entirely inconsequential to 90 percent of the audience today.
I’m sticking my neck out with what would belong into the Shocking Bond confessions thread: Maybe even Connery himself is today not any longer the benchmark for Bond in the public opinion. We mustn’t make the mistake to assume our own interest in the topic, or that of professional critics, was indicative of the wider public’s opinion. How many young people actually have seen Connery’s films outside our bubble? The answer would possibly depress most of us.
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Absolutely.
When I ask my nephews - and they are in their 30‘s, having grown up on Brosnan Bonds - as teens they already had no interest in Connery.
Asking teens today „so, Connery… brilliant, wasn’t he?“ one will probably only get this reaction:
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