Well, the article mentions Amritraj‘s mysterious two projects he pursues with Broccoli. Given how their most high profile collaboration of the past was that never realised Remote Control thingy, a project that supposedly took from 2009 to 2020 to die in its drawer, that’s not really saying anything.
Even if they are Amazon projects, these productions could still be years in the future. It’s surely disappointing there‘s seemingly no hurry on Broccoli‘s side to dive back into the 007 business. But it’s also not a given side projects would prevent any and all progress on BOND 26.
The frequency and quality of the product over the past decade-plus was arguably a pretty good indication of this as well.
With the books now focusing on characters besides Bond and the films having killed him off and showing no signs of returning, I don’t think it’s unfair to say that the Bond franchise is dormant, bordering on being essentially over.
After Amazon bought the MGM/UA carcass I don’t see them sitting on their hands for long. If Eon doesn’t want to do Bond films any more I‘m sure Amazon will sooner or later make them an offer.
I think at the very least when there are new products they’re so spread out, which makes things feel like homages to a tradition that used to be, rather than a genuine era with forward momentum. I’ll always be a fan, but the fire can’t help but die down when it’s not being stoked for so long.
Bond was a huge part of my childhood and I’m uncertain kids these days would feel the same way I did. Which is a real shame. The Brosnan era had a fair share of content coming out to keep my interest and enthusiasm going.
If the best foot that Amazon could put forward was that abysmal “reality” gameshow, then Bond is certainly going to be in trouble if it’s placed solely in their hands.
This is exactly what Bond has been under the current EON leadership.
What makes us think that’s the case? The show, whatever it is, is only their way to generate content on the cheap - in the absence of a new Bond production. Surely Amazon must be longing to get on with the real deal.
I‘m not sold blindly on anything Amazon put out, far from. But they certainly have the means, the creative talent and the professionalism to do significantly better than Road to Obscurity or whatever it’s called.
Amazon has essentially no limit to the amount of money they can pump into something. Not saying that they should have pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into a side project like that, but it’s not unreasonable to expect them to try to use their resources to make a significantly better first impression with their Bond franchise than that.
The problem is: the big pocket streamers like Amazon, Apple and Netflix are cutting their budgets now because they don’t see the returns they were hoping for.
Bond will remain a crown jewel IP for Amazon, but if EON is not interested to move forward the only things to get moving will be Bond reality shows and side characters, cheaper and faster to produce.
BB wanted to do other things than Bind for some time now, and who can blame her? But Bond needs its own time and commitment, and right now I suspect her heart is not in it. The idea to kill off Bond in NTTD must have also been part of her plan to give the franchise a longer rest.
There is also the question of our general state of the entertainment environment. Tentpole productions don’t generate the profits they used to, consumers are weary to spend and the general climate is one of instability and uncertainty to a point.
Some of this could change by December, some of it might worsen. A commitment over a multiple hundred million dollars in such a situation wants to be considered long and thoroughly, even for a mammoth like Amazon.
And there are conversations taking place at every studio whether these hundred million dollar budgets can be brought down considerably, and this in the long run might be beneficial for Bond.
However, for us fans it will remain a long, long wait.
Unless EON will surprise us, and I will eat my hat again.
I have trouble to imagine there’s absolutely, definitely zero progress on BOND 26, even if Broccoli juggled half a dozen side projects and Amazon just pretends to have forgotten about its part of the property.
At the same time I don’t see them charging ahead with a production that could land in a very different market (and century) when filming wraps. I would be very surprised if anything definite was announced before November. Even then things might be shaky, as we’ve seen before.
If The Fast of the Furious could bring back literally every single character they’ve definitively killed off, who’s to say James Bond couldn’t have survived being blown to smithereens by 20 missiles?
It’s dawn on Safin’s island. A team inspect the aftermath of the missile bombardment. Among them is a veteran originally posted on Gibraltar during 1987. He assesses the scene of devastation. To his utter disbelief, a barely recognisable figure of blood, skin and bone staggers from a crater clutching a scorched children’s toy. To which the soldier shouts “old on, you’re dead!”
Ah well… In the past, Connery or Moore would simply knock or brush some dust off their shoulders and continue on their way unscathed, of course including a snide, corny remark.
