By Chris Snellgrove | Published
In 2022, Amazon paid a whopping $8.5 billion to purchase MGM, giving them the rights to release future films in the James Bond series. However, there has been no real news about the super spy’s next appearance, and we now know that this is because long-time rights holders and producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have clashed with Amazon over Bond’s future. Broccoli reportedly believes Amazon executives are “fucking idiots” over her plans to make a series of Marvel-style James Bond spinoffs, and not only is she right, but the delay she’s caused will probably save this franchise from failure due to its own excesses.
Broccoli rots compared to Amazon
According to the Wall Street Journal, Broccoli is the main cause of this James Bond delay as she refuses to develop new films in the franchise with Amazon because she hates their entire approach. Not only is she upset that the company wants to turn this popular movie franchise into a hodgepodge of TV and film spinoffs, but she’s also upset that they’re referring to Bond’s future adventures as “content.” And while not every film released under Broccoli is a winner (spookwas a hot mess, for example), it’s clear that their persistence is keeping Amazon from ruining one of the biggest franchises in the world.
Broccoli has reportedly described Amazon as holding the James Bond franchise “hostage,” and the delay it has caused appears to be their way of rescuing the super spy from his captors. Some fans may take the cynical view that this is just a behind-the-scenes power play, a way for them to maintain relevance and control in this brave new Bond world. However, we see it differently: Broccoli has learned from the mistakes of Marvel and Amazon and does not want her beloved character to fall victim to the excesses of corporate greed.
James Bond delay prevents MCU-like disaster
The Marvel Cinematic Universe was, of course, connected from the start when Nick Fury crashed the post-credits sequence of Iron Man. However, one could argue that this is the beginning of the end for this franchise (or at least the beginning of the superhero fatigue that has changed). The miracles a big-budget flop) began with an attempt to cram as much spin-off content into Disney+ as possible. The release of James Bond films is seen as a major cinematic event and this delay will prevent this from being cheapened by a series of crappy TV shows.
Speaking of which, it’s almost impossible to discuss the future of James Bond on Amazon without discussing how the company handled The Lord of the Rings. Only 37 percent Rings of power Viewers watched the entire first season, and on Rotten Tomatoes, Popcorn Meter shows that audiences gave the show an abysmal 49 percent rating. The second season was slightly better than the first, but the fact that more people are streaming The boys is an indicator that this spin-off failed to impress the general audience, even if it stopped Tolkien purists from making arbitrary changes to the lore.
It’s impossible to know everything about what James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli thinks about Amazon, but what we do know suggests that its delay saves her iconic character from the same problems as Marvel and Lord of the Rings. It’s clear that the quickest way to dilute the brand and alienate viewers is to treat great franchises as “content” and release a bunch of spin-offs that no one asked for. And if done right, when a new Bond actor is cast, the franchise could be doomed to a failure unlike anything seen since License to kill became the lowest-grossing Bond film in America.
Ironically, it wasn’t that long ago that the biggest controversy surrounding this franchise was over which talented actor (or maybe even actress) would replace Daniel Craig in the title role. Now we know that something much worse could happen to James Bond than bad casting… Without this delay, he might have already turned into a soulless piece of content with nothing to do other than sell action figures and streaming memberships. Luckily, Broccoli has stepped in, and she could be our last defense against a series of Bond spinoffs that are even worse than season four The boysand for that we are eternally grateful.
Source: Wall Street Journal