Prime Bond: Amazon buys the rights to James Bond

After buying MGM in 2022, Amazon now has the rights to distribute all James Bond films. But what does this mean for this iconic franchise?

For over 60 years and appearing in 27 films, James Bond has been played by 7 different actors and is universally loved.

Until recently, the Broccoli family has held all creative decisions regarding the classic spy film, but now the rights have been sold to someone who has been compared more to a Bond villain than the much-loved British spy.

Amazon bought MGM Studios in 2022 for $6.1 billion. At the time of that sale, the producers of the Bond films, Wilson and Broccoli said they would retain creative control of the films.

However, in a joint statement from Amazon and former producers Wilson and Broccoli on the 24th of February, they announced that Amazon will take full creative control.

The news leaves Bond fans worried about the future of the much-loved franchise.

Inspired by Ian Fleming's novels, the James Bond series of films has grossed more than 7 billion dollars worldwide. Daniel Craig’s last outing as Bond earned almost 800 million dollars.

"I can't help but picture a sort of Happy Meal mass-reproduced version of James Bond," UK freelance writer David Lowbridge-Ellis said. "Everyone knows what they're going to get and it just becomes quite stale quite quickly."

The sale has given Amazon the distribution rights to all James Bond films and the company has looked at expanding the franchise, potentially through streaming projects or spin-offs.

Disney took the much-loved franchise of Star Wars. It gave us some wonderful spin-offs and explored much further than the characters and places we knew and loved. Perhaps Amazon can open a whole new world of espionage, too. 

Image: 'The Mandalorian' / Disney

Johnny Oleksinki, a critic for the New York Post, said that he is worried that Amazon would mess up the Bond franchise the same way it did with 'The Rings of Power': the streamer's big-budget and heavily criticised LOTR series.

Former Bond girl Valerie Leon told GMB: "..the Bond franchise was very British, and it won't be anymore. And, obviously, if they make films, they won't go into the cinema... Everything is so changed now, it won't be the same.”

Rather than change a winning formula, Amazon now has the possibility of giving us an insight into other areas of the British secret service. We could, for example, get a spin-off about Q and his gadgets, or even the early life of Miss Moneypenny...

Amazon MGM often uses color-blind casting in its productions, and there has been a lot of social media debate as to whether Bond could be portrayed by an actor of color or even another gender.

The big boss of Amazon has already taken to social media to ask fans who they think should play the next James Bond. He assured us that the search for a new Bond was well underway.

However, many fans prefer things to stay as they are. James Bond is loved for who he is: he plays hard and he parties hard. To make Bond anything else other than a British spy with a soft spot for ladies and a v0dka mart1n1 would take away the essence of Bond. Amazon does not need to do this when they also can explore a whole new Bondiverse.

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