With James Bond making a major transition right in front of our eyes, the world is wondering what will become of the franchise and the long-awaited Bond 26. The initial announcement about Amazon taking control of James Bond left fans unsure, and many questions still remain. Now, William Boyd, Ian Fleming’s successor in authoring the original 007 spy novels, has pointed out a glaring and likely inevitable issue as the property lands in its new home.
Just ahead of The Oscars' musical Bond tribute and in the weeks since the Amazon deal was made public, Boyd spoke with The Guardian about the future of the suave spy’s place at the mega streamer. He brought up a glaring and somewhat obvious addition to the franchise’s offerings as well, saying this about the potential to commodify everything about 007:
Certainly wait for Bond aftershave – and for the theme park and the dinner jackets. The new owners will have to commodify everything about their billion-dollar purchase, so there will be nightclubs and vodkas.
The Solo author isn’t wrong when he points this out about Amazon. Regularly, it expands far past what's on screen, and sells lots of merchandise around a property. For example, the show Daisy Jones and The Six had a swath of merch that went with it, including albums, a show-themed version of the novel and apparel. So, think of what they'll do with a property as big as James Bond...
Don't get me wrong, I know it's commonplace today for any studio to roll out as much merch as it can to level up a franchise - just look at what happened with Wicked. Some fans, like me, though, dread the thought of fan favorites, 007 included, offering a smattering of buyable items just for the franchise to make more money.
Basically, I agree with Boyd’s sentiments that we don’t need a Bond vodka, aftershave or nightclub–it takes away from the historic and heralded coolness of 007.
The whole deal’s progression has been interesting to watch, and it makes me wonder if the number of 007 franchise vets retiring during this time is intentional. Ex-Bond's have even thrown their feelings into the transition discourse, including Timothy Dalton. While he highlighted and praised the franchise for remaining a British touchstone all these years, he isn't sure if it'll remain so. Along with it, he voiced his concern about Barbara Broccoli's departure.
However, even with all the internal changes and uncertainties surrounding 007's future, plenty of fans have big hopes for Bond’s new era with Amazon. Between the possibility of streamlining all available titles to one platform and being transparent about what's to come, there's plenty of potential. But, there are also many concerns, including the swath of 007 products that might be produced.
As a minimalistic fan of movies, though, including Bond, I hope Boyd isn't right about all of the potential commodifying elements that await us.
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