Will Amazon destroy James Bond?
Broccoli family yields control of franchise to tech giant, sparking fears of corporate 'Americanisation' of beloved British icon

For years, the biggest threat to 007 "was the apocryphal 'woke police'", said Adam White in The Independent: a "mob of rainbow-haired bisexuals" determined to turn James Bond into a woman and replace his vodka martini with "vegan wine".
But now, we know how Bond will really be killed off: through "a slow, sad corporate takeover". Last week, the Broccoli family yielded creative control over the franchise to Amazon MGM Studios.
'Hallmark of Britishness'
For Brits, 007 "is not just A.N. Other action hero", said Janice Turner in The Times: "he's our soft power, our collective national id" – an alluring mix of "tradition and modernity" and "understated cool", "salted" with a dash of humour. Now, it's only a matter of time before Jeff Bezos and his algorithm-led streaming platform turn Bond into a bland, "Americanised" figure.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Still, the buyout is "grimly appropriate", said Madeline Grant in The Telegraph. "Bond films always mirror geopolitical reality": how fitting, then, that a tech giant from the US – so "vastly wealthy" and "culturally self-confident in a way we no longer are" – should be gobbling up "this hallmark of Britishness".
'Supervillain's bounty'
It's a "worrying" time for us fans, said Dominic Maxwell in The Times. But this should at least end the Bond drought. New films used to come along every three years or so, but it has been four since Daniel Craig's swansong, "No Time to Die", and no new installment is in sight. This is largely due to infighting between Amazon (which bought MGM and the rights to Bond in 2017) and Barbara Broccoli, whose father launched the films in 1962. After one fractious meeting, she reportedly labelled Amazon executives "f**king idiots" for describing Bond films as "content". Now that the family has ceded their control – reportedly for a cool £1 billion – someone might "finally be motivated" to make a film.
There is a reason Bezos paid this "supervillain's bounty", said Alexander Larman in The Spectator: the deal has given Amazon what all studios covet – control over the series' intellectual property. Just as Disney has "so inexpertly done with 'Star Wars'", Bezos will now milk the franchise for all it's worth: get ready for spinoffs galore, from Teen Bond to Blofeld's "origin story".
It's a shame. Bond has endured "not because of the terrible quips" and martinis, but because Broccoli fiercely guarded the brand, making sure each film was an event. Now the floodgates are open for a vulgar free-for-all. That sound you hear is "1,000 Amazon executives rubbing their hands together with glee".
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Citizenship: Trump order blocked again
Feature After the Supreme Court restricted nationwide injunctions, a federal judge turned to a class action suit to block Trump's order to end birthright citizenship
-
Loyalty tests: The purge at the FBI
Feature Kash Patel is conducting polygraph tests on FBI agents to weed out anyone speaking badly about him
-
The all-seeing tech giant
Feature Palantir's data-mining tools are used by spies and the military. Are they now being turned on Americans?
-
Kartoffelsalat (potato salad) recipe
The Week Recommends German dish is fresh, creamy and an ideal summer meal
-
6 peaceful homes near small towns
Feature Featuring doors with local topographical maps in Oregon and a 1850s homestead-turned-house in Vermont
-
Too Much: London-set romantic comedy from Lena Dunham
The Week Recommends Megan Stalter stars as a 'neurotic' New Yorker who falls in love with a Brit
-
Apocalypse in the Tropics: a 'troubling' portrait of modern Brazil
The Week Recommends Petra Costa's sobering documentary examines the rise of right-wing evangelical Christianity in Brazilian politics
-
Murderland: a 'hauntingly compulsive' book
The Week Recommends Caroline Fraser sets out a 'compelling theory' that toxins were to blame for the 1970s serial killer epidemic
-
The 2025 James Beard Award winners
Feature Featuring a casually elegant restaurant, recipes nearly lost to war, and more
-
Film reviews: Superman and Sorry, Baby
Feature A hero returns, in surprising earnest, and a woman navigates life after a tragedy
-
Music reviews: Lorde, Barbra Streisand, and Karol G
Feature "Virgin," "The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two," and "Tropicoqueta"