I'm not ready to write this all off just yet. Yes, Amazon is a conglomerate obsessed with pumping out product but a lot of the product has been very good.
Fallout was an outstanding series that was incredibly faithful to its source material. The Boys was a very clever subversion of the whole superhero craze and again quite faithful to the spirit of the source material. Go back a bit further you have more original shows like The Man in the High Castle that were well written. And Amazon always spends the money and makes sure it's shows look great. Even something more polarizing like The Rings of Power manages to capture the look of its world to a remarkable degree.
The casting on these shows has also been very good with some really strong performances such as Walton Goggins in Fallout and Charlie Vickers in Rings of Power. The ensemble cast have generally been good and I've never seen a bias towards any one nationality.
Frankly, I didn't think much of the past few Bond movies and to those people who are afraid Amazon will strip away everything that makes Bond who he is, I'd opine Broccoli already did a lot of that over the past few movies, turning Bond into a character I barely recognized and even killing him off.
I've been indifferent to this series for a long time; now, I'm at least curious again.
"...in any case I do hope that they don't run these two projects concurrently because I do fear that brand dilution would kill Bond off."
But it is inevitable they WILL do this.
What with Paramount's merger with Skydance, after Star Trek floundering in live action since 2017, and the devious House Of Mouse has diluted the other big hitters with diminishing returns. - Marvel, Star Wars, Disney live action... its highly unlikey Amazon won't do that.
One thing that gives me hope is that Marvel and Star Wars are essentially ensemble pieces. Bond is about one main character, more in line with Indiana Jones than Star Wars…
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,984Quartermasters
That said...if they bring back Purvis and Wade, I'm going to start cutting myself.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I'd say Purvis and Wade will be out on their ear. I hope Amazon will spend some money and get some fresh new writers in for this new era of Bond. Ultimately it all begins with the writers and more investment needs to be made there to ensure a great Bond film as the end product.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
I hope at least one of the writers will be British to preserve the voice of Bond and the other British characters. I also hope that at least one of the writers will be an Bond expert with a deep knowledge of the books and the movies.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,984Quartermasters
🍸️🍸️ Absolutely right. And the producer(s) as well. And *then* we get to the question of a director. Miles to go...but the one thing we know about money-grubbing conglomerates is that they move with alacrity when they have fresh intellectual property to plunder.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
NTTD gains an extra layer of significance on the back of this development. When the film is viewed again it will seem poignant not just because of Bond's death but also because it's the last of the Eon Bonds, as so much of its textual coding seemed to presage. In a sense the film's 'story' has taken several years to reach its full resolution. It's like, NTTD aka 'The Long Goodbye'...
Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
😂 I have been researching naval warfare during the American Revolutionary War for an upcoming project...correspondence from that era is much more erudite and articulate than what we generally experience these days.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I'm sure there weren't! 😏 It's a bit of a niche interest. But between the Revolutionary War, the French Revolution, the Barbary Pirate War, the Napoleonic War and the War of 1812, there's a lot of good reading. The biographies of British figures like Horatio Nelson and Edward Pellew are riveting reading...to say nothing of expatriate Scotsman John Paul Jones, who ironically is considered the father of the United States Navy.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
As an American, I can understand the worry that Amazon will Americanize Bond, but I would be shocked to see that happen. Bond is popular in the US because he is British. Amazon didn’t have to cast British actors to play the leads on The Rings of Power and yet they did (although I’m not a fan of their casting 😅 for that show). I definitely see this as good news for Cavill or some other established British actor.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,984Quartermasters
Very true. All bets are off now, as far as casting goes.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I think the odds for fairly famous actors like Henry Cavil, Jacob Elordi and Nicolas Hoult just went up.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,984Quartermasters
edited February 2025
Most certainly. Amazon has ten years before Bond moves into the public domain, in terms of copyright. To express an American idiom, they must "make hay while the sun shines."
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Quite right. Anything specific to the films belongs to the Broccolis and Amazon/MGM, but the character itself - and the literary source material - will be free game.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 30,885Chief of Staff
That's where the reptilian Lawyer Corps will earn their money, haha. Smart entrepreneurs will eschew any aspect of the character which echoes any aspect of previous Cinematic Bond. For instance, I would advise against any dialogue along the lines of "shaken, not stirred," etc., since that really wasn't a staple of Fleming's Bond - and more a cinematic trope.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 30,885Chief of Staff
Good point. Who can afford the best headhunters? I think that would be Ernst Stavro Bezos.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
😆I've never been impressed with them . . . but, I've read some of their early treatments of story and script were more thoughtful and developed than what we ended up seeing after a committee sifted through their work and reduced it to what we saw. But I miss the days of someone like a Richard Maibaum or even a Roald Dahl.
I have to say I'm very sceptical about all of this, lets hope they keep the Gunbarrel and The James Bond Theme.. Bond won't be the same if they are removed it will just be another spy movie...
Comments
I'm not ready to write this all off just yet. Yes, Amazon is a conglomerate obsessed with pumping out product but a lot of the product has been very good.
Fallout was an outstanding series that was incredibly faithful to its source material. The Boys was a very clever subversion of the whole superhero craze and again quite faithful to the spirit of the source material. Go back a bit further you have more original shows like The Man in the High Castle that were well written. And Amazon always spends the money and makes sure it's shows look great. Even something more polarizing like The Rings of Power manages to capture the look of its world to a remarkable degree.
The casting on these shows has also been very good with some really strong performances such as Walton Goggins in Fallout and Charlie Vickers in Rings of Power. The ensemble cast have generally been good and I've never seen a bias towards any one nationality.
Frankly, I didn't think much of the past few Bond movies and to those people who are afraid Amazon will strip away everything that makes Bond who he is, I'd opine Broccoli already did a lot of that over the past few movies, turning Bond into a character I barely recognized and even killing him off.
I've been indifferent to this series for a long time; now, I'm at least curious again.
More from the BBC:
I guess the next news will be the writers? Will Purvis and wade continue? My guess is not. My hope is Antony Horowitz and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
If the franchise had to be sold to finally move on from this collective albatross, so be it.
"...in any case I do hope that they don't run these two projects concurrently because I do fear that brand dilution would kill Bond off."
But it is inevitable they WILL do this.
What with Paramount's merger with Skydance, after Star Trek floundering in live action since 2017, and the devious House Of Mouse has diluted the other big hitters with diminishing returns. - Marvel, Star Wars, Disney live action... its highly unlikey Amazon won't do that.
One thing that gives me hope is that Marvel and Star Wars are essentially ensemble pieces. Bond is about one main character, more in line with Indiana Jones than Star Wars…
That said...if they bring back Purvis and Wade, I'm going to start cutting myself.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Bond26 will have no fewer than five (credited) writers on it.
I'd say Purvis and Wade will be out on their ear. I hope Amazon will spend some money and get some fresh new writers in for this new era of Bond. Ultimately it all begins with the writers and more investment needs to be made there to ensure a great Bond film as the end product.
I hope at least one of the writers will be British to preserve the voice of Bond and the other British characters. I also hope that at least one of the writers will be an Bond expert with a deep knowledge of the books and the movies.
🍸️🍸️ Absolutely right. And the producer(s) as well. And *then* we get to the question of a director. Miles to go...but the one thing we know about money-grubbing conglomerates is that they move with alacrity when they have fresh intellectual property to plunder.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
We need writers who understand words like "alacrity"! 😁
NTTD gains an extra layer of significance on the back of this development. When the film is viewed again it will seem poignant not just because of Bond's death but also because it's the last of the Eon Bonds, as so much of its textual coding seemed to presage. In a sense the film's 'story' has taken several years to reach its full resolution. It's like, NTTD aka 'The Long Goodbye'...
Agreed.
I essentially gave Eon what they wanted after they pulled that stunt. 25 films is plenty enough for me.
😂 I have been researching naval warfare during the American Revolutionary War for an upcoming project...correspondence from that era is much more erudite and articulate than what we generally experience these days.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Yes, much more "erudite". 😁
There simply weren't enough pieces about naval warfare during the American Revolutionary War in my English books at school.
I'm sure there weren't! 😏 It's a bit of a niche interest. But between the Revolutionary War, the French Revolution, the Barbary Pirate War, the Napoleonic War and the War of 1812, there's a lot of good reading. The biographies of British figures like Horatio Nelson and Edward Pellew are riveting reading...to say nothing of expatriate Scotsman John Paul Jones, who ironically is considered the father of the United States Navy.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
As an American, I can understand the worry that Amazon will Americanize Bond, but I would be shocked to see that happen. Bond is popular in the US because he is British. Amazon didn’t have to cast British actors to play the leads on The Rings of Power and yet they did (although I’m not a fan of their casting 😅 for that show). I definitely see this as good news for Cavill or some other established British actor.
Very true. All bets are off now, as far as casting goes.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I think the odds for fairly famous actors like Henry Cavil, Jacob Elordi and Nicolas Hoult just went up.
Most certainly. Amazon has ten years before Bond moves into the public domain, in terms of copyright. To express an American idiom, they must "make hay while the sun shines."
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Producer/producers I’d imagine. It’s square one time, for the first time ever we don’t know who will be in charge of the next Bond movie.
I’m not sure everything Bond will be in the public domain…I’ve been told the Bond Theme and 007 iconography in general won’t be.
Quite right. Anything specific to the films belongs to the Broccolis and Amazon/MGM, but the character itself - and the literary source material - will be free game.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Is that the James Bond book character only…? Because the film character isn’t the same…
That's where the reptilian Lawyer Corps will earn their money, haha. Smart entrepreneurs will eschew any aspect of the character which echoes any aspect of previous Cinematic Bond. For instance, I would advise against any dialogue along the lines of "shaken, not stirred," etc., since that really wasn't a staple of Fleming's Bond - and more a cinematic trope.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Makes you wonder if anyone will bother then…especially with Amazon’s propensity to sue.
Good point. Who can afford the best headhunters? I think that would be Ernst Stavro Bezos.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
😆I've never been impressed with them . . . but, I've read some of their early treatments of story and script were more thoughtful and developed than what we ended up seeing after a committee sifted through their work and reduced it to what we saw. But I miss the days of someone like a Richard Maibaum or even a Roald Dahl.
I have to say I'm very sceptical about all of this, lets hope they keep the Gunbarrel and The James Bond Theme.. Bond won't be the same if they are removed it will just be another spy movie...
Getting the right writer is crucial, its the difference between having the Rings of Power or the Return of the King.