LONDON, Feb 23: James Bond in the hands of an American company: shock horror! Amazon's takeover of Britain's iconic Bond franchise has Her Majesty's subjects worried, with some wondering whether 007 still has a future.
After months of wrangling between the films' producers and Amazon MGM studio, extensively reported in the British press, the final blow fell on Thursday: the American giant will now preside over the destiny of the world's best-known spy.
And it can do as it pleases -- the Broccoli family, which has until now defended the franchise that exported the myth of MI6 glamour worldwide, has ceded creative control to Amazon.
This move has shaken media in the spy's homeland: the day after the deal was announced, daily The Independent asked whether by taking control of the franchise, Amazon had "buried" it.
Meanwhile, articles in The Times and The Telegraph newspapers declared that James Bond will "never" be the same.
Amazon's exact intentions for the franchise remain unknown.
What is certain, though, is that "Amazon want a return on their investment", Chloe Preece, a professor of marketing at London's ESCP Business School told AFP.
To make good on the deal, Amazon is likely to create "spin-offs" or "prequels" as well as capitalise off merchandising, Preece said.
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Jeff Bezos's group acquired legendary studio MGM in 2022 for $8.45 billion, but the Broccoli family retained exclusive control of the James Bond brand under it.
007 with a Marvel twist
According to The Times, Amazon shelled out another $1 billion to producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli to wrest creative rights.
The financial terms of the deal have not been confirmed by Amazon.
Bond is going to become "more corporate. The volume (of films) will change", estimated Tom Harrington, who works at Enders Analysis, which provides entertainment industry insights.
Wilson and Broccoli, guarding the character who has shaped British cinema since the 1960s, have resisted spin-offs and licensing that they felt might have tarnished the franchise.
Barbara Broccoli has worked with four different actors in the role of 007 -- Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig -- and described her tenure as "dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy" inherited from Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, her father.
"It has always been an exclusive, premium, old-fashion brand," said marketing expert Adrian Mediavilla, with an average movie release time of "around five years".
Amazon, on the other hand, "want to build an ecosystem, a galaxy like Marvel or Super Mario," according to Mediavilla.
To do this, the studio could create new characters and new storylines. "There is enough content," said Preece.
And enough fans as well. "There is a huge fandom," said Preece, adding that fans were "desperately" waiting for the next film.
The last instalment was "No Time to Die" -- the 25th James Bond movie and Craig's swan song, which made $775 million in the box office.
James Bond gone 'woke'?
There is a risk of over-exploiting and in turn weakening the franchise.
It will be necessary to "remain faithful to the brand's heritage" and the character created seven decades ago by English author Ian Fleming, stressed Mediavilla.
"The Broccolis have been careful, with a tight team of people who knew the brand. They chose the director, they cared for it," said Preece.
However Amazon, like its competitors Netflix and Disney, works with an armada of scriptwriters who inevitably come and go.
For some, the danger lies elsewhere. British tabloids worry that James Bond is becoming "woke".
"When you have a look at the evolution of the brand one might say it has gone woke," said Preece, for whom the Bond character played by Daniel Craig has almost nothing in common with the one played by Sean Connery or Roger Moore.
"They have evolved with the time," added Preece.
The scriptwriters have toned down Bond's caddish side and regular misogynist jabs at women, and in the latest films have tried to present an image of a man who is more sensitive.
According to Preece, Amazon may even explore creating a "Bond girl series".
But the big losers could be movie theaters. All the films in the saga are huge blockbusters, but Amazon could now dispense with a cinema release and offer the film directly on its Prime streaming platform.
