James Bond has now lived six lives, and Amazon is on the hunt for 007 number seven.
Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig all went through death-defying missions, bouncing back stronger every time.
Bond is known for surviving the worst and always having a plan up his sleeve to make sure he doesn’t die.
However…
In No Time To Die, audiences were sitting there at the end, waiting for Craig’s 007 to do something in the face of almost certain death! No, this can’t be.
Unfortunately, it was, 007 was dead.
This left Broccoli in a creative stalemate, and with no progress four years on from No Time To Die coming out in cinemas, she and producing partner (and brother) Michael G Wilson, seeded creative control of the Bond franchise to Amazon entirely.
Film News Blitz’s Bella Ford takes a look at what is coming next.
How will Amazon resurrect James Bond?
Killing Bond provided a permanent emotional closure to Craig’s era and allowed the franchise to completely reset for a new actor.
How will the filmmakers get around this? Will they just scrap that ending, and Bond will be reincarnated in a new timeline, perhaps, almost like a multiverse in Marvel?
As long as they do it right, it could work.
Bond novelist Charlie Higson, writing for the Radio Times, simply believes, “If they’ve got any sense, they’ll simply ignore it and start again”.
Lots of fans are speculating Amazon will present a younger version of Bond, without messing with the timeline.
Matthew Field tells the BBC that his “prediction is a Bond under thirty, this movie must be a crowd-pleasing cash cow, and the character needs to relate towards the Gen Z audiences.”
It is also a commitment of at least five years, and the actor will be associated with the role for a lifetime.
‘007 First Light’
Amazon MGM Studios, and independent video game developer IO Interactive have officially launched 007 First Light, a new game that reimagines the character’s origin story.
This is the first James Bond game in 15 years
They said, “for the first time in video games, fans will be able to experience Bond’s ascent at M16 from a recruit into a fully-fledged spy, as his sharp instincts, resourcefulness and heroism propel him through the ranks and into the world of high-stakes covert operations.”
The game is designed to appeal to a new generation of fans ready for the new leg of the franchise. Bond is going to be younger, and so will the fans.
Could the video game inspire the direction that Amazon, screenwriter Steven Knight, and director Denis Villeneuve take the next James Bond film?
Casting is now officially underway, with the likes of Callum Turner and Jacob Elordi favourites among the bookies for the role.
Almost every star actor and up-and-comer in their early 30s will likely be vying for a license to kill, maybe even First Light’s Bond, Patrick Gibson.
What’s most exciting, though, is that this is a fresh new start for Bond, who is set to be reborn.
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