Photo: AFP
Fans of the James Bond franchise are eager to see what direction the new ownership takes with the film.
Amazon MGM took control of the franchise earlier this year. Studio executives Courtenay Valenti and Sue Kroll told fans at CinemaCon in Las Vegas recently that they have already started working on their plan for a "fresh, exotic new" Bond.
"We are committed to honoring the legacy of this iconic character while bringing a fresh, exotic new chapter to audiences around the world alongside [producers] Amy [Pascal] and David [Heyman]," they told the audience last week.
This approach has fans online split on the film's future. Some would like to see a new, but similar Bond actor and aren't open to the "fresh, exotic new" Bond. Some think it's time for a different style for the films.
Regardless of who plays Bond, film critic for Vital Thrills Joshua Starnes expects Amazon to take a similar route as what Disney did with Marvel on their streaming platforms.
"That seems to have been what Amazon executives were talking about in directions they were wanting to go," Starnes said. "Expect more Bond films at a faster cadence but also spinoffs for other characters."
Spinoffs have been something that has been talked about and teased for years and years but was not done by the previous company that controlled the franchise. That means watchers can look forward to a possible prequel series of young James Bond and other series focused on other characters.
"I think that's the playbook Amazon seems to want to follow," Starnes added.
Under the terms of the new venture, Amazon MGM Studios will also gain creative control of the James Bond franchise. Amazon spends most of their time and resources on their streaming and less on feature films. Ever since their ownership of MGM began, Amazon has dealt with smaller, mid-budget films, but the Bond and ongoing Creed series will be by far their most expensive material.
"It's a big budget, big produced series, but they've definitely done material at this scale," Starnes said of Amazon getting the Bond series.
Amazon will have a high bar to try and reach in producing Bond films that are just as good as the ones we have now.
"A lot of it is going to depend on how much Amazon's going to want to put their defining stamp on it versus trying to keep it much like what has come before and how much control they will hand to directors versus having it be very producer-driven," Starnes explained.
Now that Amazon has control of the series and there are producers set for the upcoming Bond movies, Starnes believes there's a list of names for who will be the next Bond. We'll just have to wait and see when the first movie is solidified with a script and a director before we find out who that lead actor, or actress, will be.
"I'm sure they have ideas in their heads but I'd be willing to bet that most of the ideas that they're talking about now were not people who were actually going to end up being it," said Starnes.