Following on from the announcement of Amazon acquiring MGM for $8.45 billion (£5.97 billion) earlier this week, it has been confirmed that the Bond films will still be shown in cinemas.
Though Amazon now co-owns the rights to the famous spy franchise, it will not have exclusive streaming access to new films. Variety confirmed the news with a statement from the producers of Bond, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson of Eon Productions.
The pair stated; “We are committed to continuing to make James Bond films for the worldwide theatrical audience”.
We assume that the films will go to Amazon Prime Video after the initial run in theatres, but the deal did not specify how soon after this would be. The next Bond film, No Time To Die, is due to release on 30 September in the UK, and 8 October in the US. It will be Daniel Craig’s last film of the series.
Amazon will also not have creative control over the main character. Both Broccoli and Wilson have in the past protected the Bond from any TV series spin-offs – so don’t expect 007 to appear in other spin-offs like we’ve seen with both Marvel and Star Wars on Disney Plus.
Of course, the MGM deal didn’t just give Amazon rights to Bond. The library includes classic movies such as Rocky, Legally Blonde, The Pink Panther, Tomb Raider and Silence of the Lambs, as well as TV shows such as The Handmaid’s Tale, Fargo and Vikings.
However, Amazon may not have access to all of these straight away, as many have agreements with other streaming companies.
If you’d like to sign up for Amazon Prime Video, you can do so on the website, with prices starting from £5.99/US$8.99 per month. You can also see how the streaming giant compares to rivals such as Netflix, Disney Plus and HBO Max in our roundup of the best TV streaming services.
