No Time to Die star Daniel Craig says future James Bond movies belong on the big screen and not on streaming. Craig made his fifth and final appearance as Bond in this year’s Cary Fukunaga-directed action extravaganza, and the movie made it very clear that Craig’s tenure as Bond is indeed over.
With Craig on his way out the door fans’ thoughts naturally turn to the future of the Bond franchise and most importantly who will be the next Bond. But while folks argue over Bond candidates like Henry Cavill, Rege-Jean Page, Tom Hardy and others, there’s another issue creeping into the picture when it comes to the future of the franchise: namely, Amazon’s recent acquisition of the MGM catalog including the Bond films. Given Amazon’s strong presence in the streaming world, many have wondered about the franchise having a presence on streaming. Of course, Eon Productions still has a big say in what happens to Bond, and they’ve been adamant about keeping 007 exclusively on the big screen.
Now exiting Bond star Craig has made his own thoughts known about this whole streaming matter and clearly he is not in favor of it. Speaking to The Sun, Craig said:
“One of the greatest things that’s happened is we got this movie into the cinema. That’s where Bond movies should be. They don’t look so good on a phone. They look great on an Imax screen. It looks great on a 30ft screen. And they are family events. It gets the family out. As long as there’s event movies like this then cinema’s got a chance of surviving.”
Indeed there was plenty of speculation before No Time to Die released that the film would not even get a theatrical release but would be sold off to some streamer or another in order for the studio to cut its losses amid COVID delays and other problems. But as Craig indicated, producers held firm and the movie did get its theatrical release, though there have been reports that despite the movie’s $774 million worldwide box office take it has still lost MGM $100 million. Obviously, reports like that are concerning, but Spider-Man: No Way Home's record-breaking box office shows audiences remain interested in coming to the theater. Hopefully, the COVID-19 pandemic will have subsided by the time the next Bond movie comes out, and its gross will be closer to what the studio is accustomed to. Undoubtedly, the pandemic played a role in No Time to Die facing an uphill climb to turn a profit.
Of course traditionalists like Craig himself will argue that part of what makes Bond special is the big screen scope of the films and that sending 007 straight to streaming would diminish the franchise in fatal ways. But as audiences wait to see what happens with Bond in the world after No Time to Die, a shift to streaming doesn't appear to be in the cards. Even with the impending Amazon-MGM deal, longtime 007 producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson remain committed to ensuring all future James Bond movies get a wide theatrical release. Eon remains in control of the franchise, so they have final say in the theaters vs. streaming debate.
Source: The Sun