No Time to Die has been a long time coming, but with Daniel Craig's final Jame Bond movie finally (fingers crossed) arriving in cinemas, everyone's looking to the future – well, except the producers.
"I think we’re in denial!" says Michael G. Wilson, who has been an executive producer or producer on every James Bond movie since Moonraker.
"It’s tough to think about the future until this film has its moment," adds Barbara Broccoli, also a long-time Bond producer, while talking with Total Flim for the latest issue of the magazine (the one with Dune on the cover). "I think we just really want to celebrate this and celebrate Daniel, and then when the dust settles, then look at the landscape and figure out what the future is. Although I think one thing we’ve certainly learned in the last 18 months is you never know what the future is. So we have to sit down and think about it."
Next year marks the Bond film franchise’s 60th anniversary – six decades since Dr. No hit cinemas. "Sixty years is a fantastic run,” remarks Wilson, almost wistfully, and yet 007 will be facing another crucial period of re-shaping. In May, news broke that Amazon was negotiating the $8.45 billion purchase of MGM; the Bond franchise remains the proverbial jewel in the crown of the studio. The deal is expected to be approved by the end of 2021.
Immediately, thoughts turned to what this might mean for 007. "What happens if a bruising corporation like Amazon begins to demand a voice in the process?" wrote Skyfall and Spectre co-writer John Logan in a New York Times op-ed piece. "What happens when a focus group reports they don’t like Bond drinking martinis?" It’s a salient point, although Broccoli and Wilson’s Eon Productions retain creative control over all decisions relating to Bond.
Undoubtedly, Amazon executives would love to exploit the Bond IP with a spin-off TV series for its Prime Video streaming platform. Perhaps even an adaptation of the series of books by Charlie Higson and Steve Cole that focused on an adolescent Bond in his days at Eton in the 1930s. Total Film asks Broccoli straight: would a 007 television outing also constitute another big N-O for you? "You got it," she cries. "We make films. We make films for the cinema. That’s what we do." Adds Wilson: "We’ve resisted that call for 60 years."
No Time to Die arrives in UK cinemas on September 30, and US theaters from October 8. For more from the team behind Bond, pick up a copy of the new issue of Total Film when it hits shelves on Friday 20 August. Check out the new cover below, as well as the cover of the special supplement that comes with the issue.
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