Could have been worse. Could have been the richest. 
On the other hand, there’s got to be one adversary left.
Here’s hoping that Bond will be back on duty, soon. Too many people started thinking the world’s a free ride ever since his apparent death… 
Everything that I wanted to hear, honestly.
“It’s a bit like the Marvel universe,” Geller said. “You’re going to have creation myths, origin stories and spin-offs. As long as they work as books in their own right and they are enjoyable and unputdownable, then we’re happy.”
Let’s say, it’s what I expected to hear.
There’s a long game to be played with franchises if you’re seeking generational staying power. The Broccoli Bond franchise played its cards extremely well over a long period of time, especially considering it wasn’t always smooth sailing. Marvel had a peak and has now burned itself out. Let’s see what happens but that’s the worry I would have with Amazon’s strategy. I guess it’s always possible the main content people see will be the movies, released on a two to three year gap. Which I’d be fine with. The streaming avalanche could be more niche and go under the radar, just as Road To A Million did.
Im not going to point out the MCU was making it up as they went…
A few notes on this article though
James Bond will be rebooted for the Trump era with 007 navigating a world where old allies can no longer be trusted. The Ian Fleming estate wants to work with Amazon on new Bond stories including a spin-off starring Q
Wants to work, which doesn’t mean they will work with Amazon.
Representatives for the estate of Bond creator Ian Fleming said it was poised to announce a successor author to the naval intelligence officer, who first unveiled the spy with Casino Royale in 1953.
We’re about to announce a new continuation writer - we just don’t do it yet because we’re still weighing options and trying to get our foot in Amazon’s door.
The novels will be made available to Amazon, which is expected to launch a wave of Bond film and TV spin-offs featuring Fleming’s much-loved characters
The output of Glidrose/IFP has always been available to the film branch of the franchise - they just never deemed it worth the trouble. There’s a chance this could change now - but absolutely no guarantee.
The Fleming estate is also offering adaptation rights to the “Double O” novels by Kim Sherwood, published in 2022 and 2024, which introduce a new, diverse range of 00 agents, working under mission controller Moneypenny, with 007 missing and presumed dead.
Not sure they can offer what Amazon would already deem its own. But there’s a distant chance this might be different with Sherwood’s series. Though the copyright page of Double or Nothing states: ‘Double O, James Bond and 007 are registered trademarks of Danjac LLC, used under license by Ian Fleming Publications Limited’
“Our door is open to Amazon. We’ve got a lot of material, a lot of Bond intellectual property that’s written at the top level by top writers for 40 years.
“There’s something there that could potentially help in the further exploitation of the Bond story in TV and film.”
This whole article is actually nothing but a sales pitch to Amazon. There are zero news that aren’t already established; the sole purpose is to signal compliance with Amazon - should they wish to take them up for it.
The new novels will ask how MI6 can operate in an environment where America’s reliability as an ally is being questioned. It comes as President Trump suspended intelligence to Ukraine, making direct appeals to Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Splendid idea! This is no doubt going to sell like sliced bread at Amazon. Sliced bread with boiled eggs and a side dish of maple syrup…
The Hollywood-based United Talent Agency (UTA) paid £43m to acquire Curtis Brown in 2022, creating a powerhouse entertainment business whose A-list clients include Ncuti Gatwa, the Doctor Who star said to be a strong contender for Bond.
Read: Curtis Brown has a vault chock full with actors suitable for the role and would like to pitch Amazon a few hundred of them.
Apparently, everyone has got Dollar signs in their eyes.
The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition seem to become common law more and more.
#109: Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack.
Excellent job of cutting through the sales-speak and presenting the reality of what’s actually being said in the article, @Dustin.
Great viewpoints, @Dustin and everyone else. While I’m always generally happy about Bond news, I should also be cautious with my wishes. We don’t want overexposure. However, this does more or less confirm one thing we have been wondering for awhile. We were nervous that only one person could work on a Bond novel. While still true it seems. It does prove that rule doesn’t apply to spinoffs, thankfully. I know that Kim Sherwood has some private life trouble now, but it should prove that IFP will let more than one spinoff be developed, at least. Hopefully IFP will keep both the Bond novels and their spinoffs at a steady pace, Amazon or not. One adult Bond novel and spinoff novel seems fair to me. Also, if IFP has selected Higson, Horowitz or someone else to write the next continuation novel(s) I imagine we’ll get an announcement around Ian Fleming’s birthday. Or by the end of the month based on Higson’s Twitter tease.
It doesn’t really matter what they do with the literary franchise. That part of the franchise has been essentially over for too long for it to have a chance at a viable comeback. Especially not when they’re beginning that comeback with this ridiculous reboot where Q is the focus.
Proactive thinking. With Amazon on board, IFP saw that a situation like this would be coming. They show their willingness to provide certified spinoff material. But they are also putting their foot down. Young Bond series – check. Moneypenny spin-off – check. Felix Leiter spinn-off – check. And now the Q spin-off, just in time…
If Amazon is going to do any of those, IFP will want their share. 
In what way? They’re just doing what everyone is complaining that Amazon is doing, and they’ve been doing it while EON was still running things. EON was still in charge when they commissioned a trilogy of James Bond novels that didn’t feature James Bond. And the fact that they’re leading this “reboot” of the James Bond literary franchise with Q at the helm is just further evidence that James Bond doesn’t matter anymore. The powers-that-be answered the question that the films have been asking since the 90s: “Is James Bond still relevant?” Well, apparently, he’s not.
The literary side of the franchise can trot out whatever they want to, but they’ve lost a customer (not that they care). A never ending parade of terrible Bond novels and then sidelining Bond in his own franchise, there’s really no point in parting with any more money for the product that they are delivering.
While Literary Bond isn’t as big as it used to be, @dalton IFP still know how to make a buck or two. They also realize that they do have a built-in audience. As @stromberg said, they propably are doing spinoffs on purpose so that Amazon will have to pay them. As Arthur Morgan said famously.
It goes for a lot of people in James Bond, and the world in general, that line.
Both the non-Bond trilogy and the Q spinoffs were announced when EON was still in place as the drivers of the franchise. They were already on board with spinoffs before Amazon was in charge.
Yes, but as a matter of fact they had little choice.
From the article:
The character and plots of the original literary works by creator Ian Fleming become open for public use in most countries in 2035, raising the prospect of Bond starring in rival film and TV stories of espionage, comedy or even horror.
While Bond’s boss M is also a staple of the books, it is debatable whether any would-be 007 copycat creation could show Q as a gadget supremo.
What IFP did, with Eon’s permission, was merely what they needed to do to keep an exclusive part of the franchise while its main protagonist was going to become public property. Ideas like the 00/OO series have even been fan favourites for decades and we’ve had a number of original works on our old digs. It’s not about Bond being irrelevant so much as Bond no longer being protected. They are trying to create characters they can exploit for longer. 
Purely out of curiosity, dalton, which Bond continuation novels did / do you enjoy? If your claim is simply that none have come close to Fleming and therefore you’d prefer to just stick with the Fleming run, then fair enough. But I’d then ask why IFP’s recent decisions (00-trilogy, Q spinoffs) have caused them to “lose a customer,” when anyway you hadn’t been enjoying continuation novels for quite some time. And if your claim is that Bond continuation novels of earlier eras were higher quality than some of the more recent output, then I’d be curious to hear why you think so – both because I find Horowitz’s trilogy to be some of the best stuff IFP have put out in a long time, and because earlier entries felt either too fan-fictiony (For Special Services with Blofeld’s daughter and Felix’s daughter) or unmemorable (basically the entire latter half of the Gardner era).
Have there been any continuation entries you’ve really enjoyed? If yes, what specifically did you like about them and in what sense(s) do you find them superior to, say, the Horowitz trilogy?
(By the way, anyone else reading here, please feel free to chime in – I’m only responding to dalton because his remarks sparked this chain of thought in me.)
I understand some of @dalton’s frustration. However, if I look back at my first contact with CBn in the early 2000s I remember how shocked the community has been by Benson ending his run and IFP announcing there wouldn’t be a continuation in the immediate future. If we dig deep enough there must be numerous threads in our old forums with ideas how to proceed for IFP: spinoffs, other 00 agents, a reboot, a series of established writers to each pen one (or more) books - all of these were really fan suggestions IFP actually picked up in some form or other.
I won’t argue they did so because of these fan suggestions; any decent publishing house and literary estate would have been able to come up with such, just as they started the continuations long before fans took their wishes to the internet. But certainly IFP had to do something? Besides pushing the umpteenth edition of the originals on a market that simply isn’t hugely interested in these works any more?
During the 80s and 90s I read every new continuation, usually at least twice. That was Bond for us then, even if it was Boldman. The quality was such that you could practically read a £ sign on every single page and chapter. And the bizarre thing is, these books and everything after, Benson and Faulks, Solo and OO and Young Bond, they all were written for those the most critical and often the most unhappy with them: for us.
I like Gardner overall but if I had to pick an overall top ten from all the continuation novels I’d only choose one of his. But even through the lesser efforts I wouldn’t erase their existence. I admire the intent to keep the brand alive, and the good stuff makes it worthwhile. My top 10 in chronological order:
Colonel Sun
The Authorised Biography of 007
Nobody Lives Forever
High Time To Kill
Double Shot
Never Dream of Dying
Carte Blanche
Trigger Mortis
Forever and a Day
With A Mind to Kill
Horowitz was the last real Bond author and did great. I’m not interested in the Q spin-off, and I get that frustration. But like with the films, it’s only a matter of time until the main man makes a comeback. I like the idea Bond is reactivated around the same time Amazon begins their era.
I don’t think we can make definite claims about Bond’s future relevance until he actually takes centre stage again. Based on the reaction to Amazon’s possible misuse of the character I think Bond’s emotional/nostalgic connection to people’s childhood at least means something. There’s that section of the fanbase, which is us, and the yet to be discovered fanbase with the next generation. Forget us for a moment, how they respond to the new content will be everything.
That is absolutely true.
I only fear that they will respond very differently, maybe very favorably to a reincarnation I will dislike.
But I’m 55, so… yeah. White privileged man yelling at clouds already.