Amazon James Bond: With a tech company in charge, what could the future look like?

Austrian property developer Josef Kleindienst smelled blood in the water.

The businessman last week made a play for the James Bond trademark in the UK and European Union, declaring that under his control, “James Bond will not die on our watch”.

Kleindienst was able to make his move, which would likely have failed, because under EU law, a trademark could be challenged after five years of non-use.

It’s been three and a half years since the most recent Bond movie, No Time to Die, was released. Which is not a long time but the more pressing concern was there was no next film in sight.

No script, no writers or director and, crucially, no actor to take over from Daniel Craig.

That is about to change, but not necessarily for the better.

Overnight, Amazon announced it had effectively bought out Barbara Broccoli, her half-brother Michael G. Wilson and their company, Eon Productions, and taken over creative control of the 63-year-old franchise.

Broccoli and Wilson will remain co-owners of the Bond brand but Amazon will call the shots. No financial terms were disclosed but you would have to imagine it was sizeable.

It’s one solution to the impasse that the two parties had been locked in ever since the tech behemoth in 2022 bought MGM Studios, which had the distributions rights to Bond films.

Late last year, a Wall Street Journal report alleged that the relationship between Eon and Amazon had essentially collapsed.

At the heart of it were severe disagreements over the future of the Bond brand, which Amazon reportedly wanted to exploit and expand with spin-offs and brand extensions such as a Moneypenny streaming spin-off series.

According to WSJ, during one meeting between Broccoli and Amazon Studios boss Jen Salke, Broccoli had bristled at Salke’s use of the word “content” to describe Bond projects. Broccoli reportedly called the Amazon team, “These people are f—king idiots”.

Broccoli view seemed to be that the power and influence of the Bond brand would be diluted if it was overexposed and cheapened with numerous spin-offs driven by algorithmic demands or if movies were released direct to streaming instead of on the big screen.

She wasn’t interested in the Bond Cinematic Universe, and her family had been champions of the character on screen for six decades and turned it into one of the most enduring and beloved film series.

Now with Broccoli and Wilson bowing out, Amazon is free to pursue its ambitions.

When Amazon took over MGM, the first Bond project was a reality competition series called 007: Road to a Million. The lavishly produced series features a series of teams in an Amazing Race-style quest, with puzzles and challenges in locations that had featured in Bond films.

Scottish actor Brian Cox played an arch version of himself as host.

But despite having the Bond brand attached, 007: Road to a Million had no cultural penetration and has been largely forgotten.

Broccoli and Wilson inherited the Eon business from their father, the late Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, who co-founded the production company with Harry Saltzman in 196, one year before the release of the first Bond film, Dr No.

Eon has produced 25 Bond films since then but there have been two non-sanctioned movies, the 1967 Casino Royale and the 1983 Never Say Never Again. The Eon films have a combined box office total of $US7.8 billion, not adjusted for inflation.

Broccoli in particular have held an iron-clad hand over Bond, overseeing the casting, scripts, crew and release plans.

She was the one who cast Craig as Bond and remained steadfast despite initial blowback. Craig ended up winning over the baying British public when the first images of him in swim trunks emerging out of the water at a Caribbean beach made the rounds. He made five Bond films.

Today, he released a statement paying tribute to Broccoli and Wilson’s stewardship. He said, “My respect, admiration and love for Barbara and Michael remain constant and undiminished.

“I wish Michael a long, relaxing (and well-deserved) retirement and whatever ventures Barbara goes onto do, I know they will be spectacular and I hope I can be part of them”.

In the years since Craig’s exit, there has been ongoing speculation over who could take over the role. Names that have entered the conversation include Aaron Taylor-Johnson, James Norton, Henry Cavill, Tom Hardy, Richard Madden and Rege Jean-Page.

Broccoli had previously said the next Bond actor must be British and male, but could be any race.

Taylor-Johnson was rumoured to have done screen tests for the role in 2022 but with Amazon now in charge, the casting process is likely to be reset.

Amazon’s speciality has been to produce TV shows rather than films and it has a raft of spy thrillers including Reacher, Jack Ryan and Citadel. Like other streaming businesses, it rarely releases any of its films theatrically and usually in conjunction with another studio partner.

While Amazon could choose to take Bond in any direction, it’s safe to say the 63-year-long era of Bond, as fans have known it, is over.