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What Amazon Buying MGM Means For James Bond's Future


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Hot off the heels of the WarnerMedia/Discovery merger announcement came news of another major Hollywood deal: Amazon buying MGM for $8.45 billion, and with it co-ownership of the James Bond movie franchise. After investing heavily in original TV shows, Amazon is looking to use the MGM acquisition to massively expand its library of films and access IP like the Rocky/Creed and 007 franchises.

The next James Bond movie, No Time To Die, has had its release date pushed back numerous times due to the coronavirus pandemic, and is now set for release on October 8, 2021. In late 2020 there were reports that the movie was being shopped around to streaming services for the steep price of $600 million (MGM denied that the film was for sale, maintaining that it was committed to "preserv[ing] the theatrical release for moviegoers"). Amazon's acquisition of MGM isn't affecting the release of No Time To Die, but it could mean that Bond 26 and subsequent movies will be Amazon Prime Video exclusives after their theatrical runs have ended.

RELATED: Daniel Craig's James Bond Recap: What To Remember Before No Time To Die

Beyond distribution, however, Amazon's influence over the James Bond franchise has some significant limitations. Here's why the MGM acquisition is unlikely to have a major effect on 007's future, and the things that might change in the coming year.

Amazon Won't Have Full Control Over James Bond

MGM has co-ownership of the James Bond movie rights with Danjaq LLC, a holding company for the movie studio Eon Productions, which has been producing James Bond movies since 1961. Eon is a family-run corporation that's currently run by Barbara Broccoli, the daughter of founder Albert R. Broccoli, and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson. Amidst the film industry's constantly shifting landscape of rights and deals, Eon has remained steadfastly in control of the James Bond brand for more than half a century, and Broccoli and Wilson are fiercely protective of the character's image.

Eon Productions is independent of MGM and therefore not included in Amazon's buyout, so anything James Bond-related that Amazon wanted to make would have to be approved by Eon. In terms of control over this particular franchise, the deal is a far cry from Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox, which gave Disney full control over characters like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. The end result will be more comparable to Disney's relationship with the Spider-Man franchise, where there's an agreement to allow the character to appear in Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, but ultimately Sony retains control. MGM may have part ownership of the 007 movie rights, but Eon has final approval over creative choices and nothing Bond-related gets made without Broccoli and Wilson's approval.

How Amazon Purchasing MGM Could Affect 007'S Future

In the announcement of the deal, Prime Video and Amazon Studios senior VP Mike Hopkins explained that, "The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of [intellectual property] in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team." Amazon is investing heavily in long-standing franchises, with a big-budget Lord of the Rings TV show among its upcoming projects, so the company is unlikely to simply sit patiently on the sidelines as a new James Bond movie is released every few years. In addition to adding the library of existing 007 movies to Amazon Prime's current content collection, Amazon may also push to expand the franchise with spinoff TV shows or movies.

RELATED: No Time To Die Should Undo Spectre’s Worst Twist

Whether or not Eon Productions would approve a James Bond cinematic universe is another matter entirely. Speaking to Variety last year about the strict control that Eon retains over 007, Broccoli explained, "For better or worse, we are the custodians of this character. We take that responsibility seriously.” It's also worth noting that Amazon's co-ownership of the Bond franchise is a worthwhile investment even without expanding it beyond the main film series. The last two movies in the franchise, Spectre and Skyfall, grossed $880 million and $1.1 billion at the box office, respectively, and James Bond films have been reliably successful hits for 60 years now.

Following the news of Amazon's acquisition of MGM, James Bond writer Josh Logan (Spectre, Skyfall) penned an essay in The New York Times to express concern over the limitations over the creative process of crafting a Bond film, which Logan described as being "familial" as opposed to the Marvel Cinematic Universe or DC franchise films. The long-term effect could be that future James Bond films will be less of a creative venture and more to streamline a franchise for the general audience. Time will tell if that will be the case, but the fact that Eon Productions still holds some control could keep the process Logan discussed intact. As for whether Bond films will continue being released in theaters, Broccoli recently revealed that Amazon is dedicated to continuing to release future James Bond movies theatrically and that these films will continue being made with a theatrical run in mind. However, Broccoli ended the statement with, "we'll see what happens," which suggests that this could change in the future. For now, however, it seems that any future Bond movies will continue being released in theaters just like they have been in the past, with the likelihood they will be exclusive to Amazon Prime Video after the 45-day theatrical window is over.

Will No Time To Die Release On Amazon Prime?

Amazon's acquisition of MGM is not impacting the theatrical release plans for No Time To Die, which has had distribution deals in place for years. Universal is set to handle the overseas release, while MGM handles distribution in North America. There's certainly no fear that No Time To Die will skip theaters entirely and go directly to Amazon Prime. For starters, that would have meant leaving vast sums of money on the table, since theatrical attendance will hopefully be returning to pre-pandemic levels by October. More importantly, though, Broccoli and Wilson said in a statement to Variety following the news of Amazon's acquisition of MGM that James Bond movies will continue to release in theaters first, with Broccoli reiterating that sentiment again recently.

Though it may be a streaming giant, Amazon has been in the movie-making business for several years now and overseen the theatrical releases of movies like Suspiria and Beautiful Boy. It's extremely unlikely that Amazon would limit the profitability of a franchise as huge (and expensive) as James Bond by ignoring theaters and releasing the movies straight to streaming, even if Eon was willing to allow such a thing. So James Bond fans can rest assured that they'll continue to have the option of experiencing the movies for the first time on the big screen - at least, for the foreseeable future.

If the Amazon/MGM deal is wrapped up within the next few months, No Time To Die could well be added to Amazon Prime Video's library after its theatrical run - but only in North America, where MGM has the distribution rights. Since the global distribution rights belong to Universal, overseas moviegoers will likely have to pay extra for the streaming release of No Time To Die. However, the deal isn't expected to close until midway through 2022 (with certain groups asking the Federal Trade Commission to block Amazon's purchase of MGM). Regardless of what happens with No Time to Die, Eon Productions has a process of taking James Bond movies one at a time, which means there aren't yet any distribution deals in place for Bond 26. Therefore, this and other future sequels will likely be made available for free to Amazon Prime Video subscribers, as part of a streaming library that is set to become a lot bigger once MGM's catalogue joins it.

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