Being James Bond: The Daniel Craig Story (2021)
kahnwiley 2 points 2 years ago*.

I did some research to follow up on your reply, and with respect, I think you need to check your facts. Amazon purchased MGM earlier this year and that purchase included 50% ownership of the copyright to James Bond as a franchise. (Source: Business Insider)
James Logan, writer of two of the Craig-era Bond movies, wrote a piece in the NYT in response to the buyout, writing that Amazon is “not necessarily a champion or guardian of artistic creativity or original entertainment. In the context of the larger company, Amazon Prime Video is not chiefly about artists. It’s about attracting and retaining customers. And when bigger companies start having a say in iconic characters or franchises, the companies tend to want more, not better, and the quality differential can vary wildly, project to project.”
Now, that’s only 50% ownership by Amazon, and EON, which is owned by Danjaq, which is owned by Broccoli/Wilson, is in control of the other 50%. They also have “creative control” of the character, as Broccoli has reiterated several times in interviews pertaining to the Amazon takeover.
We’ll see how strongly they exercise that control in the face of Amazon dollars being pumped their way to motivate a potential streaming series or spinoffs. Broccoli stated in an interview with Variety that she is open to the idea of streaming: “I don’t think we can rule anything out, because it’s the audience that will make those decisions. Not us.”
This seems to me like EON is talking out of both sides of its mouth by reassuring fans that they will maintain the integrity of the franchise as “custodians” of the character (Broccoli’s words) in a theatrical format, while simultaneously negotiating for a possible streaming series (which was happening even before Amazon purchased MGM). Lord knows Amazon will be happy to throw a ton of money at them to capitalize on such a potentially lucrative IP, as they are currently doing by developing a LOTR series (yuck).

hellsingfan01 2 points 2 years ago.

Some really good research there on your behalf but tho I would like to say that Amazon’s role in this franchise thus far at least seems to be that of an executive producer type of role in that they can give input but no one else involved with making the film has to really listen to what there saying since EON Productions will still have the final say on things when it comes to the overall direction of not the franchise but each James Bond film or like you said possibly even a streaming TV series.