Does Amazon's purchase of MGM mean No Time To Die winds up on Amazon Prime Video? 007 is notorious for acting first and asking questions later (if at all), but even he has fallen prey to the movie industry's COVID-19 delays. No Time To Die was originally scheduled for April 2020, having already been pushed back by the departure of Danny Boyle as director. Once the pandemic's potential impact shifted into view, No Time To Die became the first major blockbuster to jump ship, falling back to November under the assumption this would provide enough time for everything to blow over. It didn't, and No Time To Die is now slated for October 8, 2021 in the U.S. and the 30th of September in Bond's native U.K.
Since No Time To Die's original release date, the world has become a very different place, and very recently, James Bond's own world turned upside down. Amazon has agreed an $8.45 billion takeover of MGM studios - Jeff Bezos' latest gambit in the ongoing streaming wars, in which Netflix, Disney+, Warner and others battle for your subscription fees. The move could be Bezos' last big purchase before stepping down later this year, and gives Amazon Prime a massive new collection of film and TV content. Amazon Studios is also free to produce sequels, reboots, spinoffs and remakes to properties such as Legally Blonde, Robocop, Stargate and more.
By far the biggest name on MGM's books, however, is James Bond. Does the MGM-Amazon deal mean No Time To Die could end up releasing on Amazon Prime? Given that No Time To Die is already running more than a year behind schedule, it's unlikely the Amazon deal will affect Bond in the immediacy. The distribution arrangements for 007's latest offering will have already been agreed, meaning No Time To Die should arrive in cinemas later this year as planned, barring any further pandemic issues. The overarching motivation for delaying Bond 25 was to give the movie the best possible chance on a big screen, where he belongs, and avoid the streaming, simultaneous, or home media route that other major franchises have been forced to take over the past 12 months.
Although No Time To Die's theatrical run will probably remain unaffected by the sale of MGM, expect Daniel Craig's farewell party to land on Amazon Prime as soon as practicalities and existing agreements allow, dropping alongside the other James Bond content that'll be propping up the streaming service imminently.
Perhaps the more interesting question is whether or not Bond 26 will release on Amazon Prime. By the time Daniel Craig is recast, a script is written, and the new era of James Bond is mapped out, Amazon will hold the cards, meaning Bond 26 effectively marks the beginning of the Amazon era. Creatively, this shouldn't have much bearing - this isn't Bond's first studio change, after all, and Eon Productions are still the ones making the big calls of casting and script. But with regards to distribution, things could get a little interesting. Premiering a James Bond movie on Amazon Prime or streaming simultaneously to the theatrical release would be a huge coup for Amazon, and a strategy the company will surely want to pursue.
The fly in Amazon's ointment, however, will be Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, who operate Eon Productions and still own 50% of the James Bond rights. The pair have clashed with studios before over differences of Bond opinion, and are famously protective over the movie series started by their father and Harry Saltzman in 1962. Eon has routinely championed James Bond as a big screen entity (demonstrated by the No Time To Die situation), and you have to imagine they'll be deeply reluctant to see future films arrive on a streaming platform before, or even alongside, the theatrical release. Reduced windows between James Bond movies opening in cinemas and streaming on Amazon Prime might represent a compromise, but whether this is what Amazon just paid more than $8 billion for is a different matter entirely.
