By When Spectre released it wasn’t just a possible end point for Daniel Craig as Bond, but also a definitive end point for Sony’s distribution deal with MGM and Eon Productions. That’s a big cash cow walking out the door, and now that it’s grazing in the street everybody wants it. Right away Sony, Universal, and Fox hopped into negotiations with Bond producer Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, but news is now breaking that Amazon and Apple are interested as well. This would be a major pull for both non-traditional studios, especially Apple, who is just in the infancy of its television and film production.
THR reports that the companies are not just interested in making Bond films, but launching an entire universe or at least a supporting TV show with the franchise rights. That idea is so strong that even Marvel and LucasFilm are reportedly showing interest as well. Since the distributor has to split the profit with MGM and Eon, who own Bond outright, it would benefit them to put the franchise in as many locations as possible, especially on streaming services they own.
Of course these are all very early talks, and while Bond 25 is getting underway nothing needs to be decided soon. Thankfully it sounds like Broccoli and Wilson are not too keen on the idea of spinning Bond off into an over-saturated Bond universe as sources say the two are more interested in a more traditional deal for the franchise.
As a die hard Bond fan I’m not sure if I’d be excited for more Bond. One of the best things about Bond is that it doesn’t come along every year. That makes a Bond movie an event. If you had a TV show and spin-offs you’d start to lose some of that edge. On the other hand, they could do some cool things if they did a s how loosely connected to Bond. I don’t know what that something is, though.
