Following the official announcement that Amazon is set to acquire MGM for $8.45 billion, Skyfall and Spectre co-writer John Logan has expressed his disapproval with Amazon owning 50% of the James Bond franchise as he warns fans that this may hurt the future of the franchise in terms of creative direction. In his recent essay written for The New York Times, the acclaimed scribe opened up about his experience working on the James Bond films, revealing that the reason why the iconic character has stood the test of time is due to the care and love that the Broccoli/Wilson family had poured into developing the franchise.
“Having worked as a writer on Skyfall and Spectre, I know that Bond isn’t just another franchise, not a Marvel or a DC; it is a family business that has been carefully nurtured and shepherded through the changing times by the Broccoli/Wilson family,” Logan shared. “Work sessions on Skyfall and Spectre were like hearty discussions around the dinner table, with Barbara Broccoli and her half brother Michael Wilson letting all the unruly children talk. Every crazy aunt or eccentric uncle was given a voice. We discussed and debated and came to a resolution, as families must, with no outside voices in the room. When you work on Bond movies, you’re not just an employee. You’re part of that family.
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Even though Eon Productions still has 50 percent of the Bond empire which grants them continued artistic control over the franchise, Logan raises his concerns about the possibility of Amazon to begin making demands over the creative process of the character, due to the global tech company’s “obsession with customer experience.”
“What happens if a bruising corporation like Amazon begins to demand a voice in the process? What happens to the comradeship and quality control if there’s an Amazonian overlord with analytics parsing every decision? What happens when a focus group reports they don’t like Bond drinking martinis? Or killing quite so many people? And that English accent’s a bit alienating, so could we have more Americans in the story for marketability?” He said.
He continued, “In the context of the larger company, Amazon Prime Video is not chiefly about artists. It’s about attracting and retaining customers. And when bigger companies start having a say in iconic characters or franchises, the companies tend to want more, not better, and the quality differential can vary wildly, project to project.”
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No Time to Die is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga from a script written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, Scott Z. Burns with Fukunaga and Emmy winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Killing Eve). It will see the return of Daniel Craig as he reprises his iconic role as James Bond for the last time.
The long-awaited Bond film is currently slated to hit the theaters on October 8, 2021.
