Hot off the ends of the WarnerMedia/ Discovery merger advertisement came story of another major Hollywood deal: Amazon buying MGM for $8.45 billion, and with it co-ownership of the James Bond movie right. After investing heavily in original Tv indicates, Amazon is looking to use the MGM acquisition to massively expand its library of movies and access IP like the Rocky/ Creed and 007 franchises.

The next James Bond movie, No Time To Die, has had its release date pushed back several hours due to the coronavirus pandemic, and is now prepared for handout on October 8, 2021. In late 2020 there were reports that the movie was being shopped around to streaming services for the immerse toll of $600 million( MGM denied that the cinema was for sale, maintaining that it was committed to “preserv[ ing] the theatrical freeing for moviegoers” ). Amazon’s acquisition of MGM isn’t affecting the release of No Time To Die, but it could mean that Bond 26 and subsequent movies will be Amazon Prime Video exclusives after their theatrical movements have ended.

Related: Daniel Craig’s James Bond Recap: What To Remember Before No Time To Die

Beyond distribution, however, Amazon’s influence over the James Bond franchise has some significant disadvantages. Here’s why the MGM acquisition is unlikely to have a major aftermath on 007 ‘s future, and the things that might change in the coming year.

MGM has co-ownership of the James Bond movie freedoms with Danjaq LLC, a holding company for the movie studio Eon Creation, which has been make James Bond movies since 1961. Eon is a family-run corporation that’s currently run by Barbara Broccoli, the daughter of benefactor Albert R. Broccoli, and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson. Amidst the film industry’s perpetually changing landscape of human rights and treats, Eon has remained steadfastly in control of the James Bond brand for more than half a century, and Broccoli and Wilson are strenuously protective of the character’s image.

Eon Yield is independent of MGM and therefore are not listed in Amazon’s buyout, so anything James Bond-related that Amazon wanted to make would have to be approved by Eon. In expressions of restrict over this particular franchise, the bargain is a far cry from Disney’s acquisition of 20 th Century Fox, which established Disney full hold over references like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. The purpose develop will be more comparable to Disney’s relationship with the Spider-Man franchise, where there’s an agreement to allow the character to appear in Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, but eventually Sony retains limitation. MGM may have part ownership of the 007 movie claims, but Eon has final admiration over artistic choices and good-for-nothing Bond-related comes realized without Broccoli and Wilson’s approval.

In the notice of the deal, Prime Video and Amazon Studios major VP Mike Hopkins explained that, “The real monetary appraise behind this batch is the treasure trove of[ intellectual property] in the deep catalog that we are projected to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team.” Amazon is investing heavily in long-standing dealerships, with a big-budget Lord of the Rings TV show among its upcoming projects, so the company is unlikely to simply sit patiently on the sidelines as a new James Bond movie is secreted every few years. In addition to adding the library under the existing 007 movies to Amazon Prime’s current content accumulation, Amazon may also push to expand the franchise with spinoff TV evidences or movies.

Related: No Time To Die Should Undo Spectre’s Worst Twist

Whether or not Eon Make would approve a James Bond cinematic cosmo is another matter altogether. Speaking to Variety last year about the strict restrict that Eon retains over 007, Broccoli showed, “For better or worse, we are the stewards of this person. We take the main responsibilities seriously.” It’s likewise worth noting that Amazon’s co-ownership of the Bond franchise is a worthwhile investment even without expanding it beyond the central movie lines. The last-place two movies in the right, Spectre and Skyfall, grossed $880 million and $1.1 billion at the box office, respectively, and James Bond films have been reliably successful pops for 60 years now.

Following the information of Amazon’s acquisition of MGM, James Bond novelist Josh Logan( Spectre, Skyfall) confined an essay in The New York Times to express concern over the limitations over the creative process of crafting a Bond film, which Logan described as being “familial” as opposed to the Marvel Cinematic Universe or DC franchise films. The long-term effect could be that future James Bond films will be less of a creative endeavour and more to streamline a franchise for the general audience. Time will tell if that will be the case, but the facts of the case that Eon Production still nurses some domination could keep the process Logan discussed intact. As for whether Bond films will be pursued being released in theaters, Broccoli recently disclosed that Amazon to commit themselves to ongoing efforts to handout future James Bond movies theatrically and that these movies will continue being seen with a theatrical run in mind. However, Broccoli culminated the statement with, “we’ll investigate what happens, ” which suggests that this could change in the future. For now, however, it seems that any future Bail movies will continue being released in theaters just like they have been in the past, with the likelihood they will be exclusive to Amazon Prime Video after the 45 -day theatrical space is over.

Amazon’s acquisition of MGM is not impacting the theatrical handout plans for No Time To Die, which has had distribution treats in place for years. Universal is set to handle the overseas release, while MGM administers dispensation in North America. There’s certainly no fear that No Time To Die will bounce theaters alone and start instantly to Amazon Prime. For starters, that would have meant leaving vast summing-ups of fund on the table, since theatrical attending will hopefully be returning to pre-pandemic status by October. More importantly, though, Broccoli and Wilson said in a statement to Variety following the story of Amazon’s acquisition of MGM that James Bond movies will continue to release in theaters firstly, with Broccoli reiterating that sentiment again recently.

Though it may be a streaming giant, Amazon has been in the movie-making business for several years now and overseen the theatrical exhausts of movies like Suspiria and Beautiful Boy. It’s extremely unlikely that Amazon would limit the profitability of a right as gigantic( and expensive) as James Bond by discount theaters and exhausting the movies straight-out to streaming, even if Eon was willing to allow such a thing. So James Bond fans can rest assured that they’ll continue to have the option of experiencing the movies for the first time on the big screen – at least, for the foreseeable future.

If the Amazon/ MGM spate is wrapped up within the next few months, No Time To Die could well be added to Amazon Prime Video’s library after its theatrical flee – but merely in The americas, where MGM has the distribution claims. Since the global dispensation rights belong to Universal, overseas moviegoers is very likely to have to pay extra for the streaming release of No Time To Die. However, the batch isn’t expected to close until midway through 2022( with certain groups requesting the Federal Trade Commission to block Amazon’s purchase of MGM ). Regardless of what the fuck is up with No Time to Die, Eon Productions has a process of making James Bond movies one at a time, which signifies there aren’t yet any rationing treats in place for Bond 26. Therefore, this and other future sequels is very likely to be made available for free to Amazon Prime Video readers, as one of the purposes of a streaming library that is set to become a lot bigger formerly MGM’s catalogue joins it.

More: Daniel Craig’s James Bond Recap: What To Remember Before No Time To Die

Read more: screenrant.com