James Bond Is Dead. Long Live James Bond.

The last we saw of Agent 007, Daniel Craig’s Bond was blown to bits by a missile strike at the end of 2021’s No Time to Die. That ended up being the death of Bond in more ways than we realized at the time. Don’t be mistaken, we haven’t seen the last of James Bond. In fact, we’re about to see more James Bond than we’ve ever seen before. So much James Bond that you won’t know what to do with all of it. So much James Bond that you’ll shudder a little every time you hear “vodka martini.” But such is the entertainment industry today. No intellectual property can be left un-ravaged. Nothing is sacred. Those with the power of the purse refuse to learn that more is not always better.

Last Thursday’s announcement that producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are ceding creative control of the James Bond franchise to Amazon MGM Studios marked a seismic shift in the industry, as one of the last bastions of blockbuster film that held firm to the value of the cinematic experience fell into the hands of a corporate conglomerate with no such priorities. For more than 60 years, the Broccoli family – first producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and then his daughter Barbara and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson – has shepherded the Bond franchise and turned it into one of cinema’s most iconic. They have done so in large part by making it synonymous with big-screen spectacle and keeping the franchise close to its roots, maintaining a consistent franchise identity that made each film and event. In 2022, Amazon bought MGM, which had long distributed the Bond films, for $8.5 billion, but Broccoli and Wilson retained creative control of the series. Conflict ensued, with Amazon executives looking to expand a franchise they saw as underutilized, and Broccoli refusing to capitulate to the pleas of suits she felt lacked respect for the character. Since the merger, the sides have remained in stalemate, and there has been no progress towards developing the next era of Bond. That is, until Thursday’s deal.