By Chris Snellgrove | Published
In 2022, Amazon paid $8.5 billion to buy MGM, giving them the rights to release future films in the James Bond franchise. However, there is no real news about the next appearance of the superspy, and now we know that this is because long-time rights holders and producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have clashed with Amazon over the future of Bond. Broccoli reportedly believes Amazon executives are “stupid” in their plans to make a bunch of Marvel-style James Bond spinoffs, and not only is he right, but the delay he’s created will save the franchise from overdoing it.
Broccoli Turns Rotten On Its Way to the Amazon
According to the Wall Street Journal, Broccoli is the main cause of this delay of James Bond, who refuses to develop new films in the franchise with Amazon because he hates all their methods. Not only is he upset that the company wants to turn this beloved cinematic franchise into TV and movie spinoffs, but he’s upset that it’s referring to future Bond actions as “content.” And although not all films released under Broccoli won (The Spectrefor example, it was a hot mess), it’s clear that his stubbornness is stopping Amazon from ruining one of the world’s largest ecosystems.
Broccoli reportedly described Amazon as holding the James Bond franchise “hostage” and the delay it caused seems to be his way of rescuing the actor from his captors. Some fans may be of the opposite opinion that this is simply a behind-the-scenes power play, his way of maintaining relevance and control in this brave new world of Bond. However, we see it another way: Broccoli has learned from the failures of both Marvel and Amazon and does not want his favorite character to become a victim of the excesses of corporate greed.
James Bond’s Delay Prevents an MCU-Type Disaster
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is connected from the beginning, of course, with Nick Fury breaking out in the post-credits sequence. The Man of Steel. However, you can argue that it is the beginning of the end of this franchise (or, at least, the beginning of the great fatigue that transformed it Miracles on a big budget) started with an effort to include as much Disney+ content as possible. The release of James Bond films is seen as a major movie event, and this delay will keep that from costing a lot of dirty TV shows.
Speaking of which, it’s almost impossible to discuss the future of James Bond at Amazon without discussing how that company handled Lord of the Rings. Only 37 percent Rings of Power viewers watched the entire first season, and on Rotten Tomatoes, the Popcorn meter shows that the audience gave the show a bad rating of 49 percent. The second season was better than the first, but the fact that more people are streaming Boys it is an indication that this outburst failed to impress a general audience even as it drove away Tolkien purists for making inappropriate changes to the text.
It’s impossible to know everything about what James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli thinks about Amazon, but what we do know shows that her delay is keeping her popular character from facing the same problems that Marvel and Lord of the Rings have faced. It’s clear that thinking of amazing franchises as “content” and churning out a bunch of spinoffs that no one asked for is the quickest way to dilute the brand and drive away viewers. And doing that well when a new Bond actor plays it could cost the franchise the likes of which it hasn’t known since. License to Kill became the lowest-grossing Bond film in America.
Ironically, it wasn’t that long ago that the biggest battle with this franchise was which talented actor (or maybe even actress) would replace Daniel Craig in the title role. Now we know that there are worse things that can happen to James Bond than bad acting…without this delay, he may have already been turned into soulless content designed to do nothing but sell action figures and cast members. Luckily, Broccoli stepped in, and could be our last line of defense against enduring a slew of Bond spinoffs worse than season four Boysand for that, we are eternally grateful.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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