Summary
As will come as no real surprise to fans of theJames Bondfranchise, 007 will live to ‘die another day.’ While Daniel Craig’s time as the pop culture icon came to an end withNo Time To Die, plans for the 26thJames Bondmovie were presumably in the works long before he put down his Walter PPK. Now, fans are bracing for a new era of the martini-swilling spy.
Eon Productions has kept a tight leash on the James Bond rights (aside fromCasino RoyaleandThunderball) sinceDr. Nofirst hit screens in 1962. Albert “Cubby” Broccoli oversaw the franchise from Connery through to Timothy Dalton, with his daughter and stepson taking over in 1995. Sadly, as questions about what’s going on withBond 26continue to swirl, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson look like they’re finally handing over control to someone else.
Amazon Welcomes A New Era For James Bond
In a shock announcement that few saw coming,Amazon MGMhas announced that it now hascreative control of the James Bond franchiseand all the expanded universe potential that comes with it. The IP has been stuck in a stalemate ever sinceNo Time To Dierounded off Daniel Craig’s arc. A concerning December 2024 article from theWall Street Journalexplained how Barbara Broccoli was ‘irked’ when Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke referred to James Bond as “content.”
As Amazon has shown with the likes ofThe Lord of the Ringsfranchise andRings of Power, it’s not just sticking to traditional releases of movies. The same can be said for the world ofThe Boys, with spin-offs likeGen VandThe Boys Presents: Diabolicalshowing how the streaming giant continues to expand IPs as much as possible. There’s also talk ofAmazon’sTomb Raiderseriesfitting into some sort of connected universe that will streamline the various complicated timelines.
Theend ofNo Time To Dieconfirmed “James Bond will return,” but with the movies making over $7.8 billion at the worldwide box office, that was no real surprise. The WSJ article says that Broccoli was against the idea of Bond spin-offs, with her reportedly saying,“Did you read the contract?”Although it’s been reiterated that the Amazon MGM deal is in conjunction with Broccoli and Wilson, the fact the studio now has creative control suggests that things are about to expand in a big way.Deadlinereports that Amazon MGM has to shell out an extra $1 billion in order to gain creative control over the James Bond name.
There’s been plenty of talk about a sharedJames Bond universeover the years, while chatter about spin-offs isn’t exactly new either. Still, the Amazon MGM deal has Bond purists concerned that the name will be watered down by various projects that will spin out into origin stories, or attempts to build out other characters without even featuring Bond himself. Fans aren’t the only ones skeptical about what’s next for the 007 name. Speaking toThe Telegraph, former Bond Timothy Dalton referred to it as ‘sad’ and added:
“I have no idea what Amazon would do with it, and I have no idea what the relationship of Amazon to the Broccolis will be. But it is a damn fine series of movies. I was watching it when I was young, we all were. It’s been part of our lives, so anything that threatens it is kind of sad.”
Dalton reiterated that involving people who know what they’re doing has kept the Bond franchise on a stable footing for the entirety of its run. While it’s true that some movies have been ‘better’ than others, it’s all a matter of taste.
The Failed Attempts at a James Bond Universe
Even though Amazon MGM hasn’t confirmed what its plans are for James Bond, this isn’t the first time the idea of a shared Bondiverse has been floated. While discussions have largely been shut down by Broccoli and co., that could all be about to change. In 2021, Shawn Robbins, Chief Analyst at Boxoffice Pro, suggested toMetro.co.ukthat the tide was changing and explained:
“The James Bond series remains under control of the Broccoli family, who have already confirmed it will remain a theatrical-first property going forward. To do anything differently would severely undermine 007’s worth. Amazon could, however, expand the brand into potential streaming branches that tie into the greater film universe.”
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos seems to be a big fan of ‘content.’ Hours after the latest deal was announced, he took to social media to ask who fans think the next Bond should be. Even if it’s just a bit of fun, allowing fans to influence the franchise or bending to the will of ‘algorithms’ is in direct violation of what the Broccoli family used to steer the IP for decades.
There have been Bond outings that have forked off from Sean Connery, Roger Moore,(the underrated) George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig, with rights rows leading to David Niven leadingCasino Royalein 1967. Connery also played Bond in the malignedNever Say Never Again, going head-to-head with the Moore-ledOctopussyand ultimately losing.
Alongside rumors once claiming that Michelle Yeoh’s Wai Lin fromTomorrow Never Diescould lead her own non-Bond spin-off, Eon got even closer to the idea ofDie Another Day’s Jinxgetting her own solo movie.Jinxwas announced in 2002 as a ‘Winter Olympics’ to a proposed fifth movie for Pierce Brosnan. Halle Berry was due to reprise her standout role alongside Michael Madsen’s Falco, with a pre-SkyfallJavier Bardem set to play the love interest. It was canceled, as MGM moved forward with Martin Campbell’sCasino Royaleas a full reboot.
There’s also a myriad ofJames Bond booksthat seem ripe for mining. Alongside the movies seemingly forgetting Bond’s Scottish housekeeper May, there’s alsoThe Moneypenny Diariestrilogy. Though Fleming’s final Bond book was the posthumousThe Man with the Golden Gunin 1965, others have picked up his legacy with the likes of Charlie Higson’sYoung Bondbooks and Kim Sherwood’s James Bond-adjacentDouble Oseries. Coming in Autumn 2025,The Q Mysterieswill give Bond’s loyal quartermaster his own series.
As far back as the 1950s, Fleming himself had written a treatment for a TV series that was calledMurder on Wheels. The concept of Bond going undercover to stop SMERSH agents sabotaging a race at the Nürburgring never made it to screens, although the idea was reworked into Anthony Horowitz’sTrigger Mortisnovel from 2015.
Amazon already got one spin-off past Broccoli and Wilson, withBrian Cox hosting007: Road to a Millionas a very different kind of Bond tie-in. Still, some have cheered the reality TV series as a potential audition for Cox to prove that he’d be perfect for the eventual reboot’s M. Others have called for Ralph Fiennes to play the character in a brand-new continuity, like Judi Dench did when she bridged the Brosnan and Craig eras.
WithRoad to a Millionproving what can be done when thinking outside the box, it feels like a way of easing fans into the idea that not everything Bond has to be a heartthrob-led movie. Elsewhere, the popularity ofInvinciblemeans aJames Bond Jr.revival could bring the forgotten 1991 cartoon back from the dead à laX-Men ‘97. All of these are sure to rattle the ever-protective Bond fandom, but it would at least help pass the time until another mainline movie makes its way to theaters.
Some aspects of the franchise are sure to stay the same. Wherever the IP goes next, there will be some form of James Bond at its center. Broccoli previously said thatthe next Bondwould likely be a man in his 30s, and would need to carry the role for the next 10–12 years. But given that she no longer has control, that would all go out of the window. Could the franchise revisitSkyfall’s original idea of the name‘James Bond’ being a monikerthat’s passed down? Either way, with 2025 marking the longest time between the development of James Bond movies, it’ll likely be a fair few years until audiences are staring down that infamous gun barrel once again.
