As Daniel Craig's tenure comes to an end this year with No Time To Die, speculation of who will take over has been the topic of conversation for a number of years already. The arrival of Daniel Craig in 2006's Casino Royale was one such jolt to the system, bringing out a brutal and emotional side of Bond that had been missing for some time which proved to be a hit with moviegoers. Even when the franchise seemed to be running out of steam, something came along to give it the jumpstart it needed. Since Dr No brought the MI6 agent to the big screen, and made a megastar of Sean Connery, we have seen the mantle passed on from one generation to the next with varying levels of success. There are fewer things certain in the movie industry than the notion that somewhere in the future there will always be another Bond movie.

Through MGM - which is the second-largest acquisition in Amazon’s history, following the company’s eye-watering $13.7-billion acquisition of Whole Foods - Amazon has access to a catalogue of more than 4,000 movie titles, of which the Bond franchise is the indisputable crown jewel, along with 17,000 TV shows, including “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Fargo.”īrent Lang and Cynthia Littleton contributed to this report.We can't start this list without ticking off MGM's biggest money-spinner. The companies also said that Amazon will “preserve MGM’s heritage and catalog of films” and provide customers with greater access to existing works. Under the pact, MGM will complement a TV-focused Amazon Studios. And after a week of speculation around the deal, Amazon and MGM announced a definitive merger agreement on Wednesday. An MGM spokesperson told Variety at the time that “the film is not for sale.”īut as it turned out, MGM was for sale. It was unclear then, however, whether any talks had received Broccoli and Wilson’s blessing. Nonetheless, rumors swirled in October when it emerged that MGM had explored a $600 million streaming deal for the film with SVOD players including Apple and Netflix.

In the last 13 months, the movie has been postponed three times to ensure it can open in movie theaters. Indeed, “No Time to Die” was the first tentpole to move release dates last year when the pandemic struck.

It was widely believed that the pair would push back on plans to have Bond debut on a streaming platform and insist on a theatrical release, as per their contractual terms with MGM. “For better or worse, we are the custodians of this character,” Broccoli told Variety in a rare sit-down interview last year.

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